"I reckon he will have a great season" - AB de Villiers makes big prediction about LSG batter

Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has predicted that Rishabh Pant will have a successful stint in his first season in charge of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in IPL 2025. The 40-year-old expressed his anticipation to watch the wicketkeeper-batter in action during the upcoming campaign.

De Villiers further lauded the franchise for appointing Pant as their new skipper. He pointed out his strong leadership skills, positive mindset and aggressive gameplay.

AB de Villiers said on his YouTube channel:

"He’s [Rishabh Pant] a great player. I am excited to see him play at LSG. Mujhe lagta hai uske liye ye ek shandaar season hone wala hai (I reckon he will have a great season)."

"Mujhe lagta hai ki yeh franchise ke liye ek shandaar kadam hai (I think it’s a great step for LSG franchise [on appointing Rishabh Pant as new captain]). I know what he brings to the party. He is energetic, optimistic, and [has the] ability to win a lot of games. He will lead from the front and by example. In terms of batting, he’s a positive and attacking player and that’s what LSG needs. He shows the boys how to do it and I am convinced the rest of the team will follow suit as well. He has a good squad, a settled team," he added.

Rishabh Pant previously led the Delhi Capitals (DC) to 23 wins in 43 matches. Under his captaincy, the Capitals finished sixth, with seven wins in 14 games, last year. The franchise had 14 points, the same as fourth-placed Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), fifth-placed Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and seventh-placed LSG.

Meanwhile, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka has backed Rishabh Pant to become as succesful as five-time IPL-winning captains Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) and MS Dhoni (CSK) in the next decade.

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LSG squad for IPL 2025

Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant, David Miller, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Avesh Khan, Abdul Samad, Aryan Juyal, Akash Deep, Himmat Singh, M. Siddharth, Digvesh Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Akash Singh, Shamar Joseph, Prince Yadav, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Arshin Kulkarni, Matthew Breetzke.