PBKS start X war with LSG after Rishabh Pant’s comments and Digvesh Singh’s unnecessary act for Priyansh Arya
Punjab Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants has the making of turning out to be an intense rivalry in the IPL. The LSG vs PBKS match at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Tuesday could act as the first chapter. The social media handle of PBKS turned the heat on LSG after Punjab outplayed the hosts in all departments to walk away as the winners by eight wickets. One of the biggest reasons behind the franchise’s targetted posts, including a witty retort to spinner Digvesh Singh Rathi’s uncalled-for send-off to PBKS opener Priyansh Arya, was LSG captain Rishabh Pant’s comments in the lead-up to IPL 2025.
After being released by Delhi Capitals, Pant, one of the most sought-after players in the mega auction, was picked up for a record amount of ₹27 crore by LSG. Days after the mega auction, Pant declared that he had only one “tension” while watching the mega auction, and that was regarding Punjab Kings, clearly indicating that the keeper-batter did not want to go to PBKS. “Andar se, mereko bas ek hi tension thha, wo hai Punjab (Deep within, I only had one tension that was regarding Punjab),” Pant said in an interview in the presence of LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka when asked about the bidding war for him in the auction.
PBKS used “tension” as the keyword and directed multiple posts during and after the match. Their first post came just before the start of the match and it kept on going when Glenn Maxwell dismissed for Pant for 2.
Pant was not PBKS’ only target. The franchise’s X handle did not take a liking to Digvesh’s Kesrick Williams-like notebook send-off to Priyansh.
They posted a collage, trying to guess what Digvesh may have been writing in his imaginary notebook after dismissing Arya.
The incident occurred in the third over of PBKS’s chase of 172 runs, specifically on the fifth ball, with the score at 26/0. Rathi, introduced into the attack by captain Rishabh Pant, dismissed his Delhi teammate Priyansh Arya, who had scored 8 off 9 balls. Arya, after hitting a boundary off Rathi’s first delivery, mistimed a pull shot on a short, quicker ball, resulting in a top-edge caught by Shardul Thakur at mid-on.
Elated, Rathi ran towards Arya and mimicked the iconic “notebook send-off,” a gesture popularized by West Indies bowler Kesrick Williams, where he pretended to jot down Arya’s name in an imaginary book. The celebration, however, drew immediate attention from the umpire, who warned Rathi, and later criticism from Sunil Gavaskar, who questioned its necessity. Despite the early breakthrough, PBKS chased the target comfortably, winning by 8 wickets, with Prabhsimran Singh (69) and Shreyas Iyer (52*) leading the charge. Rathi’s antics added a fiery moment to the contest.
