Rishabh Pant remained non-committal about his opening slot ahead of Lucknow Super Giants’ match against SunRisers Hyderabad. Asked at the toss if he would open, Pant smiled sheepishly and tried to give a straight answer. After a short pause, he told television station Pommie Mbangwa that they would decide the batting order when it was their turn.
Pant’s answer raises an important question, have LSG already started to rethink their plans after just one game this season?
In his opening match against Delhi Capitals, Pant was promoted to open the innings alongside Mitchell Marsh. The move has pushed Aiden Markram’s form down the pecking order, despite his strong showing last season.
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Pant, however, failed to capitalize on the opportunity, scoring just 7 off 9 balls before being run out at the non-striker’s end. The early setback rocked LSG at home and they never really recovered.
LSG managed just 141 runs, a total that Delhi Capitals, Pant’s former team, comfortably managed in 17.1 overs. After the match, Pant was seen in an animated discussion with the team owner and coach, a moment that reminded many of KL Rahul’s time with the franchise.
On Sunday, in LSG’s second game of the season, Pant’s failure to give a clear answer about his batting position raised further concerns about the clarity of the team’s approach. The wicket-keeper batsman has done significant pre-season work, including training with Yuvraj Singh, in a bid to revive his white-ball career, which has stalled of late.
But the fact that the captain looks uncertain about his role after just one game is an ominous sign for LSG fans.
IPL 2026: SRH vs LSG
Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant won the toss and opted to bowl first in SunRisers Hyderabad’s first home match of the season, believing the pitch would be tacky in the first six overs.
LSG made one change to their playing XI as Manimaran Siddharth came in for Anrich Nortje.
Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan was delighted to be back in Hyderabad and cheered on by the home crowd. He stressed the importance of staying calm and executing plans well in T20 cricket.
“It’s always good to get your home support and the crowd loves the SRH team. So yes, I’m very happy to be here. There are only two changes. Livingstone comes in and Harshal Patel comes in. Harshal Patel has done well whenever he’s lined up to bowl here. And Livi giving him the opportunity to use his off-spin against left-handers is the most important thing in execution to be the most important in T20. and try to save as many runs as possible so plan well and practice your balls and I think it’s really important for us to get those two points but we have to be calm, take one game at a time and that’s the whole plan to be in a good space like I said before and play your best game.
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– The end
Issued by:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
05 Apr 2026 15:29 IST
