Former South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis believes wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant will probably be one of the players under the most pressure this IPL season, as he begins his second year captaining the Lucknow Super Giants.
Notably, Pant recently shared a clip where he can be seen training under Yuvraj Singh in Mumbai. The wicketkeeper-batter shared glimpses of the practice sessions on social media as he prepares to return to white-ball cricket.
“For me, he is probably the player in the IPL who’s under the most pressure this season. We always talk about the price-tag pressure. Some guys flourish under that price-tag pressure, and some guys don’t. The last season for him was a real tough season. The team struggled and his runs also struggled, the way that he batted” said Du Plessis on Star Sports.
Pant's performance in IPL 2025
Pant had a largely forgettable IPL in 2025, which was his first with LSG, where he also served as captain. He had fetched a price tag of ₹27 crore, making him the most expensive buy in IPL auction history. LSG failed to make it to the playoffs, and Pant scored just 269 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 133.16. A whopping 118 of those runs came in a single innings, when Pant finished the season with a century. He then impressed in India’s Test series in England but was injured towards the end of the tour.
How Pant lost his place in India's white-ball setup?
While Pant remains integral to the Test team, his position in white-ball cricket has been less secure. He missed out to KL Rahul as wicketkeeper-batsman in ODIs and to Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan in T20Is.
There are signs of improvement in domestic cricket. During the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Pant scored 70 off 79 balls against Gujarat, showing patience at the crease rather than relying solely on his aggressive batting style.
LSG IPL 2026 schedule
| Lucknow Super Giants IPL 2026 schedule | ||||
| Match No | Opponent | Venue | Date | Time |
| Match 5 | Delhi Captials | Ekana Stadium, Lucknow | 01/04/26 | 7:30 PM IST |
| Match 10 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | Rajiv Gandhi Intl cricket stadium, Hyderabad | 05/04/26 | 3:30 PM IST |
| Match 15 | Kolkata Knight Riders | Eden Gardens, Kolkata | 09/04/26 | 7:30 PM IST |
| Match 19 | Gujarat Titans | Ekana Stadium, Lucknow | 12/04/26 | 3:30 PM IST |
Lucknow Super Giants squad for IPL 2026: Rishabh Pant(C), Aiden Markram, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Mukul Choudhary, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahamad, Arshin Kulkarni, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ayush Badoni, Mohammad Shami, Avesh Khan, M. Siddharth, Digvesh Singh, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, Arjun Tendulkar, Anrich Nortje, Naman Tiwari, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan.