India’s legendary off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has a request for his former teammate Rishabh Pant. Ashwin does not want Pant to get bogged down after a low score against Delhi Capitals (DC) and continue opening the innings for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. The former all-rounder made the request after Pant said that chances of him opening in IPL 2026 are 50-50.
"It was very unfortunate the way Rishabh Pant got out, and even more unfortunate the way he talked after the match. He was asked whether he would open the innings, and he replied 50-50. I request you with folded hands, please open in every match. Justin Langer, or whoever is there in the LSG team management, should go and tell Rishabh Pant to go out there and play freely in the powerplay. Go and play the entire 14 games as an opener," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Pant scored seven runs from nine balls in LSG's campaign opener. He was run out at the non-striker's end after Mukesh Kumar got his fingertips on the ball and it crashed into the stumps.
Pant’s record while opening in T20Is
Pant opened five times in T20Is, scoring 71 runs at an average of 14.20 and strike rate of 136.53.
Changes in LSG batting order
After Pant, Markram arrived at the crease. He scored 11 runs from eight balls before getting knocked over by DC skipper Axar Patel. Nicholas Pooran was expected to arrive at the crease but Ayush Badoni was sent ahead of him. Badoni couldn't justify the promotion, getting dismissed caught behind for a three-ball duck by left-arm pacer T Natarajan. Then, Pooran couldn't contribute much with the bat either as he was outfoxed by Lungi Ngidi's off-cutter.
Pant’s record vs LSG’s next opponent
LSG would look to get back to winning ways in their clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on April 5. Pant has a good record against SRH. He is the sixth-highest run-scorer against the franchise in IPL history and likely to overtake Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) MS Dhoni, current Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) assistant coach Shane Watson (566 runs) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shreyas Iyer. Pant has 558 runs from 18 innings against SRH at an average of 39.85 and strike rate of 144.18, featuring an unbeaten 128.