Mumbai: Speaking exclusively on Kuhl Fans Match Centre Live on JioHotstar, JioStar expert Aakash Chopra commented on Rishabh Pant’s TATA IPL 2025 learnings:
“Success might teach you a few things. Failures, however, truly change your mindset—and often for good. He isn’t a regular in the Indian T20 side, so this season was crucial. A chance to make a mark, to build a strong unit. It hasn’t gone that way. His own form has been inconsistent—another lesson in itself. Does he stick to this approach in T20s or adapt? When you’re in a bad patch, it feels like nothing works. The nights seem longer, the days even more so. That’s when you learn—and bounce back. This has been a nightmare. The good thing about nightmares is that you eventually wake up.”
JioStar expert Varun Aaron on Pant’s form this season:
“LSG were relying on him, especially in the middle order. Except Marsh, nobody really scored. Pant looked tentative from the start and never really got going this season. It’s a sign of a player out of form. A prime Pant would’ve launched that shot into the stands. Today, he chipped it straight to the bowler. He’s a quality player and will wake up. He just needs to adjust his approach slightly. This year, he hasn’t scored behind square—bowlers aren’t letting him play those shots. At Arun Jaitley (stadium), those 45-degree angles worked for him. On bigger grounds, they haven’t.”
Aakash Chopra on Abhishek Sharma’s impact for Sunrisers Hyderabad:
“It’s the flamboyance—he brings that to the table. Like Mitchell Marsh, he holds the bat at the top, lovely downswing, beautiful backlift—he’s clearly emulating his hero Yuvraj Singh. You see shades of Yuvi when he bats. That’s why you invest in Abhishek Sharma. If he gets going, he can make the match one-sided. A 59 off 20 balls today—he gave others time to settle in. Very strong through the off-side and down the ground. I think he finished Ravi Bishnoi as a bowler tonight—one over, four sixes. That was that.”
Chopra shared his opinion on Heinrich Klaasen’s knock against Lucknow Super Giants:
“SRH were in the driver’s seat at the halfway mark. It didn’t require bravado—just common sense and a steady partnership. That’s what they did. People talk about Pant going for INR 27 crore, but Klaasen was retained for INR 23 crore—more than Rohit, Bumrah, or Kohli. That’s big money. You expect returns. While he’s scored runs this season, they haven’t always been meaningful. But tonight, he showed why you want Klaasen in your XI—he calmly steered them to victory.”
Varun Aaron on Eshan Malinga’s game-changing spell:
“Started off with Pant’s wicket—really good catch. He had already taken a sharp one earlier at short third man, so his confidence was high. Pant didn’t connect well, and Malinga made no mistake. Then he got Badoni too—Badoni should’ve hung in and taken the game deep. But he pulled the trigger early and mistimed it. That spell was critical. Without those two wickets, Lucknow would’ve scored 220–230 easily. In the end, they were at least 20–30 runs short.”
Varun Aaron spoke about the upcoming CSK vs RR Clash at Delhi:
“Delhi is going to turn yellow. The crowd is going to feel lucky to watch MS Dhoni play a couple of home games at Arun Jaitley Stadium. He’s such an icon of the game. The Chepauk crowd might wish he were playing there instead—if this is indeed his last season. But then again, we’ve been saying that for years. He said he’ll assess his body in the off-season and decide—so let’s wait and see.”
