NEW DELHI: Rishabh Pant’s bold move to open the innings did not go as planned as Lucknow Super Giants slumped to defeat against Delhi Capitals in their IPL 2026 opener, raising questions about his role at the top.Pant’s outing ended with a bizarre run out in the third over. A direct drive from Mitchell Marsh was deflected onto the stumps by Mukesh Kumar and caught Pant at the non-striker’s end. The LSG captain, who scored 7 off 9 balls, left visibly frustrated after the unfortunate dismissal.
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Angkrish Raghuvanshi only focused on team winsReflecting on the moment, Pant said, “I think the best way to recover from it is to ignore it. I think the best way to look forward is because you know something like that, you can’t control it, but thinking about it definitely puts you on the back foot.” He also admitted that the team struggled to build a partnership: “You see, it’s always like that, but you know the way we batted, we couldn’t get the partnership going for long.”Pant’s rise to the top, breaking the established pairing of Aiden Markram and Marsh, raised eyebrows. On whether he will continue as an opener, he said, “I think it’s a 50-50 call, but we’ll see. But you’ll definitely see me in the top order.”The LSG batsmen faltered and managed just 141 in 18.4 overs despite starts from Markram and a fighting 35 from Marsh. Lungi Ngidi and T Natarajan chipped in with three wickets each while Kuldeep Yadav chipped in with crucial breakthroughs.
Rizvi, Stubbs seal victory for DC
Chasing 142, Delhi were in early trouble before Sameer Rizvi (70*) and Tristan Stubbs (39*) romped to a match-winning 119 runs. Rizvi’s fearless hitting turned the game on its head as DC chased down the target in 17.1 overs.With the initial experiment a failure and LSG failing to bat, Pant now faces a crucial decision about his position.
