Following Rishabh Pant’s controversial use of the F word in a post-match interview last week, Sunil Gavaskar has publicly endorsed the Lucknow Super Giants captain.
LSG had a dismal season and ended up at the bottom of the IPL 2026 standings. With just 312 runs in 14 games, Pant himself had one of his worst IPL seasons.
After LSG’s seven-wicket loss to Rajasthan Royals last week, Pant was criticized for uttering the F-word in a live television interview.
“What do you think about Lucknow Super Giants’ performance this season?” Ian Bishop asked Pant during the post-game interview.
Jaded and disappointed, Pant responded: ”We are proud of the team, regardless of the situation or the points table. We are confident in this team. That doesn’t take away the fact that we are a f*g good team.”
Pant’s comments went viral on social media right away. While many questioned Pant’s behavior, Gavaskar said that captains of losing teams should be given more time to gather themselves before addressing the cameras, pointing instead to the broadcasters and the timing of the interview.
”Rishabh Pant dropping the ‘F’ word in his post-game interview does make one wonder whether it is necessary to interview the captain whose team has just lost the game barely minutes earlier,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for the Mid-Day newspaper.
The legendary batsman claimed that emotional sentiments could easily result from the psychological toll of a close loss as well as the physical strain of keeping wickets in extreme heat.
”If it’s been a last over finish, then the disappointment for the captain would be even greater and if he is also the wicketkeeper who has been running up and down to the stumps every other delivery and that too in this heat, then it can add to his frustration,” Gavaskar observed.
In order to give the losing captain a few more minutes to calm down before stepping into the spotlight, he recommended that broadcasters first talk to the Player of the Match from the victorious team.
”It might be a better idea to speak to the player of the match from the winning team and give the captain of the losing team a little time to splash some water on his face and regain his composure. As it is, there will be a bit of time for the presentation party to be ready, so giving the captain of the team that has lost, a few more minutes could well ensure that such things won’t happen,” Gavaskar wrote.
Pant is one of the most cheerful characters in the game, according to Gavaskar, who also said that the episode merely demonstrated how emotionally heated cricketers can get right after losing.
”Rishabh Pant is one of the most cheerful guys in the game who loves playing the sport in his own unique way. And the fact that even he lost it does make the case for the losing team’s captain to be given a few more minutes to recover his thoughts rather than have the mic shoved in his face even before he has had time to get his breath back. Is that too much to ask?,” Gavaskar added.
