Lucknow Super Giants’ brand new skipper Rishabh Pant spilt beans about the close bond he shares with Nicholas Pooran and their destructive middle order ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. Pant and Pooran have shared a bond off the field, which grew deeper when the Indian southpaw was on the road to recovery. When a life-threatening accident in December 2022 left Pant incapable of playing, Pooran used to keep a check on the explosive batter’s recovery. The 27-year-old will now share the same dressing room with his West Indies counterpart for the upcoming season of the IPL.

“Pooran is my close friend, have a very old relationship with him. During my injury, we used to talk, and he used to ask if I was doing fine or not. That relationship is always there,” Pant said on Star Sports.

With Pooran and Pant in the mix, LSG has bagged a couple of renowned hard hitters for the latest edition of the cash-rich league.

Considering the number of run-scoring spectacles Sunrisers Hyderabad, LSG appears to be the franchise on paper that will continue with the trend of high-scoring affairs.

Pant, Pooran and David Miller appear as promising prospects in the middle order who can decimate even the famed bowling attacks on any given day.

“Miller has been phenomenal with the kind of experience he has had during the last five years, it is amazing, finishing the game. If you have all three of them, phir to definitely tabaahi hai. Hamari team mein saare tabahi player hai bhai (In our team, all players are destructive),” Pant added.

In the last edition of the IPL, Pant marked his return to competitive cricket and garnered 446 runs in 13 matches, averaging 40.55. With his compelling performances, he earned a spot in India’s T20 World Cup squad and lifted the title against Miller’s South Africa.

Pooran was the prime force for Lucknow with the bat in the last edition. He inflicted carnage and amassed a whopping 499 runs at a staggering average of 62.38 while striking at 178.21.

Miller, who represented Gujarat Titans last season, made nine appearances for the franchise. He added 210 runs to his name while averaging at 35.00 with an impressive strike rate of 151.08.

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