Rishabh Pant rose to fame through his fearless strokeplay in the IPL, capable of changing the course of a match in a matter of few overs. However, his performance has experienced a significant dip over the past few seasons.
After joining Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as captain for a record sum of INR 27 crore, the wicketkeeper-batter failed to leave a mark in the 2025 season, scoring only 269 runs in 13 innings at an average of 24.45 and a strike rate of 133.17.
With LSG set to begin their IPL 2026 campaign on Wednesday (April 1), Pant once again finds himself on the spotlight as he takes on his former franchise Delhi Capitals (DC).
Ahead of the fixture, LSG head coach Justin Langer stayed mum on Rishabh Pant’s batting position to keep the opposition guessing.
"I'm not telling you. Well, the truth is, I'm not gonna sit here and tell you where Rishabh Pant's gonna bat tomorrow. I appreciate you asking, but if you want a straight answer, I'm not telling you where he's gonna bat tomorrow because then DC knows where he's gonna bat, and then they'll have to deal with it tonight, not tomorrow at 7:30. Thanks for asking, though, you'll wait and see like everyone else," said Langer in the pre-match press conference.
Langer emphasized Pant’s "smiling and aggressive" mindset as a key indicator of his readiness to reclaim his spot in India’s competitive white-ball setup.
"Well, Rishabh Pant is at his best. He is smiling, he is competitive, throwing punches and being aggressive. You all saw that game (against RCB) last year, that was brilliant. But Rishabh knows, just like every other Indian player (of competition in white-ball sides). India just won a World Cup. Try being an Indian selector or a coach, you could have three international teams. So every player, whether someone experienced like Pant or the youngster who played for Rajasthan last night (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi), that they are pushing to be selected. There is pressure, and that is good. The diamonds will rise. He is batting well, he has got amazing people around him to support him and bring the best out of him," he added.
