The Indian Premier League (IPL) is full of surprises. Just as one thought the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) benching Mayank Yadav and picking Prince Yadav was a bold decision, LSG captain Rishabh Pant came out to open the innings against the Delhi Capitals (DC) to commence his IPL 2026 campaign.
Rishabh Pant’s opening move fails
Last year, LSG found immense success with two overseas openers: Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram. Combined, the duo scored nearly 1,100 runs: Marsh with 627 and Markram with 445. However, Pant had a forgettable IPL season in 2025. He batted at four different positions: opening, 3, 4, and 7. But nothing worked. Pant ended up with just 269 runs in 13 innings.
To kick off IPL 2026, he decided to flip things over. He moved himself up. Reports had suggested that Pant would slot himself at number three and let Marsh and Markram do the bidding up top. But that didn’t happen. Instead, he opened the innings with Marsh, with Markram slotted at number three.
It wasn’t something that Pant was foreign to. In 2016, his debut IPL season, he opened the innings four times. Even last year, when nothing was going in his favour, he changed things up and opened the batting. Against DC, it started off well. On his second delivery, Pant struck a beautiful boundary down the ground. But after that, he struggled.
Pant faced 7 more deliveries and scored just 3 runs. He had the chance to explode, but before that could happen, he was run out at the non-striker’s end. On the last ball of the third over, Marsh hit the ball straight back to Mukesh Kumar. The fast bowler dropped a catch, but it flicked his hand and went on to hit the stumps with Pant just outside the crease.
Pant knew he was a goner and walked back before the on-field umpire asked for a replay. He would’ve liked to start where he’d ended, having scored a hundred in LSG’s last match of IPL 2025. But things haven’t gone his way. Mind you, Pant was paid a whopping INR 27 crore. Until he performs with the bat, the pressure will keep on building.
Rishabh Pant’s IPL record as opener
| Innings | Runs | Balls Faced | Average | Strike Rate | 4s | 6s | Highest Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 132 | 103 | 22 | 128.15 | 17 | 2 | 69 |
Cricket
Rishabh Pant promotes himself as LSG opener to overturn IPL fortunes, but luck goes against him
