Rishabh Pant, the captain of the Lucknow Super Giants, has been struggling both with the bat and as the skipper since he joined the team, which includes the whole of the last season and the opening match of IPL 2026 as well, which saw LSG take on the Delhi Capitals at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
The Effort
As far as Rishabh Pant’s performance, who came out to open against DC, is concerned, the left-hander was run out in an unfortunate manner at the non-striker’s end while backing up against Mukesh Kumar, as a straight hit from the bat of Mitchell Marsh crashed into the stumps after hitting Mukesh’s finger.
The Captaincy
Coming to Rishabh Pant’s captaincy, he marshalled the young fast bowling attack that he had at his disposal while defending a below-par total of 142 runs and succeeded in reducing the opposition to 26 for 4 inside the first six overs.
The Middle Overs
However, Pant wasn’t able to maintain his grip on the game as the captain in the middle phase of the chase, with one of their reasons being the lack of backup bowlers, which led to some indisciplined bowling once the pair of Tristan Stubbs and Sameer Rizvi got their eye in and took full advantage of it.
Also Read: Former England Captain Asks Rishabh Pant to Learn from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
Expert’s Speak
Reacting to LSG’s decision to move Pant up in the batting order, former DC batter Kevin Pietersen said that he might have gone a bit too ahead of what should be his ideal batting position.
In the words of Pietersen, “I saw a lot of indiscipline from the LSG bowlers. Rishabh Pant addressed that, saying they needed to try everything to take wickets, and I completely understand that. But when you look at the strength and depth of LSG’s batting, is Rishabh Pant really an opening batter? I think he might have gone a little too far ahead of where he was in the line-up compared to last year.”
The Consequence
Pietersen was of the opinion that the decision to open with Pant may end up putting more pressure on him rather. “Last year, he moved down the order, and now suddenly it’s, ‘I’m going to come up to the top.’ I think he just needs to go out and enjoy his cricket. Don’t force yourself into batting at three; enjoy the luxury of that position. I think he puts himself under tremendous pressure by opening the batting,” he added.
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