Former India batter Manoj Tiwary slammed Rishabh Pant for his questionable batting approach amid poor form in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL). The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) batter scored just three runs off just nine deliveries in the thrilling win over the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Saturday, April 19. Rishabh Pant survived a close LBW shout off his very first delivery, and got off the mark three balls later. The left-handed batter was then pitted against RR spinner Wanindu Hasaranga in the eighth over of the innings. Desperate in need of a release shot after a struggling start to his innings, Pant attempted an audacious reverse sweep. Pant did not get in decent shape, and could not adjust to the short of a length delivery. The delivery rose on him, and all he could do was nick it to wicket-keeper Dhruv Jurel. This now marks the LSG skipper's fourth single-digit score of IPL 2025, out of seven outings. Manoj Tiwary noted how his unnecessary tendency to opt for the unorthodox earns him the wrath of fans and pundits. "Rishabh Pant is that kind of player — he is brimming with talent. There is no need for him to go and play a reverse sweep right away, yet he does it. That’s why Sunil Gavaskar got upset during the Test match in the Border-Gavaskar series. Even he knows that Pant has so much ability that he can score runs with straight-bat cricket. So why doesn’t he do that? Why does he go for the unconventional?" Manoj Tiwary said on Cricbuzz (via India Today). Sunil Gavaskar had launched an iconic rant after Rishabh Pant was dismissed while playing an unorthodox shot in the first innings of the Boxing Day Test in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series. The flamboyant batter had chosen to play the scoop shot despite a fielder placed in the deep for such a stroke. "If he has to learn from someone, it should be Virat Kohli" - Manoj Tiwary implores Rishabh Pant to spend time at the crease before switching gearsManoj Tiwary suggested that Rishabh Pant should back himself to switch gears as the innings progresses, allowing him to take some time to settle in the early stages. So far in IPL 2025, Pant has played more than 15 deliveries only on three occasions. His season tally is currently placed on a depressing note, with 106 runs at an average of 15.14, heading into the second half of the campaign. "If he has to learn from someone, it should be Virat Kohli. When Kohli came into international cricket, he didn’t play at a strike rate of 100 in the 50-over format. He took his time — scored 7 runs in 10 balls, sometimes just 5 in 10 balls — but he kept building his innings. That’s what Pant needs to do now — take a little time. It may not seem like it when you watch with your eyes that it's a 20-over match, so you feel like you need to go bang-bang and finish it off quickly. But there are 120 balls in a T20 innings," Tiwary explained. Rishabh Pant had largely followed the aforementioned template during LSG's loss to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Ekana Stadium recently. Pant was tottering at 40 runs off 39 deliveries, but exploded towards the end to finish with 63 runs off 49 balls.