IPL 2025: Bishnoi Defends Pant’s Death-Over Bowling Strategy in CSK vs LSG Match

Ravi Bishnoi reacts during LSG’s IPL 2025 match
Written by: OCBG Editorial Team
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Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeated Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 5 wickets in an away match of the 18th IPL season on Monday, April 14. The win enabled the team to break their streak of five consecutive defeats. One of the most important episodes of the match was LSG captain Rishabh Pant’s decision not to use Ravi Bishnoi in death overs, which did not pay off.

Wrong Strategic Decision

The LSG had to make a crucial decision during the second strategic timeout. MS Dhoni came out to bat (CSK needed 56 runs off the last 30 balls at this moment), and Bishnoi had one over left. He had bowled effectively in the middle overs, but Pant opted for his pacers in the death overs.

Many argued that Bishnoi could have been given another over. At that point, Shivam Dube was struggling. The cricketer scored just 17 runs off 20 balls and faced only two deliveries from Bishnoi. Despite Dhoni’s reputation for excelling in the death overs, he had a poor record against spin that season. The legendary player amassed only 34 runs off 34 deliveries with 15 dot balls. But in the 20 minutes following the strategic timeout, Dhoni’s scoring rate against spin doubled, reaching 96 off 48.

Bishnoi Defended His Captain

Pant explained after the match that the decision was influenced by the fear that one over of spin-hitting could tilt the evenly poised game. But given Dhoni’s proven ability to hit spin, it might have been worth the risk. Avesh Khan and Shardul Thakur were taken for runs in the 16th, 17th, and 19th overs. This significantly increased CSK’s chances. But Bishnoi defended his captain. The player said that Pant made a decision that everyone understood. Ravi believed that the captain could see the situation better from behind the stumps and made the right choice.

Bishnoi added that there was no specific discussion about the fourth over. He felt that in a tense situation, it was better for the captain to decide based on his perspective, and Pant took what he believed was the better decision.