India, May 11 -- When Lucknow Super Giants' paddle was raised to bid Rs.27 crore for Rishabh Pant last season, it wasn't merely a transaction but an act of faith - a declaration of hope that the most chaotic, exhilarating batter of this generation could lead the charge of a franchise impatient for a title. But in a league of excess, the burden of that extravagance sometimes rests heavily on a single pair of shoulders. On Sunday, Pant looked less like the future of a franchise and more like a man searching for fragments of himself.

The defeat to Chennai Super Kings wasn't merely another loss in a long, uneven season for Lucknow - it felt symbolic. More palpable was the despondency in Pant's innings, a kind of creative exhaustion that has ...