Rishabh Pant has been working on his game ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League 2026 season and recently spent a few days training with former India star 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.
Pant to feature in IPL 2026
Pant, who leads Lucknow Super Giants and became the most expensive player in IPL history with a ₹27 crore deal, has not played competitive cricket since January. He had suffered a side strain while batting just before India’s ODI series against New Zealand national cricket team in Vadodara.
A video from the training camp quickly went viral online. In the clip, Pant can be seen facing deliveries in the nets while Yuvraj stands behind the stumps, carefully observing his batting and offering tips during the session.
According to a source who spoke to IANS, Pant’s short training camp with Yuvraj was aimed at improving both his skills and his mindset for modern white-ball cricket.
“Basically, Rishabh has been practicing very, very hard on his game and also working on his fitness. If you look at the videos, he even appears leaner now. He wanted to focus more on his white-ball cricket, not just T20s,” the source said.
Pant reached out to Yuvraj Singh
The source added that Pant himself reached out to Yuvraj and asked if he could train with him for a few days. The two worked together at the Cricket Club of India ground in Mumbai for three to four days. After that, Pant left for Chennai to join LSG’s ongoing pre-season camp, which will be followed by another training camp in Lucknow.
It is also understood that Pant’s sessions with Yuvraj were not just about preparing for T20 cricket. The wicketkeeper-batter is looking at the bigger picture and wants to perform consistently in limited-overs cricket for a longer period.
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Pant had a forgettable IPL 2025
Pant was part of India’s squads that won the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. However, he had a difficult season in IPL 2025. He managed to score 269 runs in 14 matches with a strike rate of 133.16, which was his lowest return since making his IPL debut in 2016.
Although he scored an unbeaten 118 in LSG’s final league match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, it wasn’t enough to help the team qualify for the playoffs, as they finished seventh on the points table.
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Cricketers who got mentored by Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj, who played a key role in India’s wins at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2007 and the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, has been mentoring several young players in recent years. Among them are India’s Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, as well as Abhishek Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh. He also briefly worked with Sanju Samson, who later went on to become the Player of the Tournament in India’s recent T20 World Cup win at home.
At present, Pant is India’s second-choice wicketkeeper in ODIs behind KL Rahul. He was not part of the squad that won the latest T20 World Cup. With players like Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan performing strongly in T20 cricket, Pant will be eager to score big runs and lead Lucknow Super Giants to a better campaign in IPL 2026.