Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant admitted it is a "50-50 call" as to whether he continues to open the batting in IPL 2026 but affirmed he will remain in the top order. Pant opened with Mitchell Marsh in LSG's opening fixture against Delhi Capitals (DC) on Wednesday at home in Lucknow, losing by six wickets to the Capitals.

 

After the loss against DC, Pant said:

 

"I think it's a 50-50 call, but we'll see. But [you'll] definitely see me in the top order."

 

Pant had not opened in T20s since November 2022 but was out for 7 from 9 balls in unfortunate circumstances. A straight drive from Marsh was deflected on to the non-striker's stumps by bowler Mukesh Kumar.

 

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Batting changes, missed opportunities, and extras were costly for LSG

 

Pant's opening role altered the batting order; Aiden Markram had a strong IPL 2023 scoring 445 runs at a strike rate of 148.82 but moved down to number three on Wednesday. Nicholas Pooran who topped LSG's batting charts last season with 524 runs at a rate of 196.25 was also pushed down the order.

 

Pant said:

 

"I think the idea was very simple. Like, [Pooran] is taking the charge in the middle overs. He's not batting in the top order anymore because I'm batting up the order."

 

LSG also experimented with a lefty-righty combo as they promoted Ayush Badoni to bat in ahead of Pooran.

 

He said:

 

"And the swap [between Pooran and Badoni] happened because, you know, we wanted to explore that lefty-righty option at the top. So, they couldn't bowl a left-arm spinner. Unfortunately, I got out at the wrong time."

 

Skipper added:

 

"Otherwise, Axar [Patel] still had to bowl one over in the powerplay and that gives us the edge over them."

 

The home team failed to strike partnerships and were bowled out for 141. Pant revealed this decision meant they had to bring in Shahbaz Ahmed as the Impact Player which resulted in leg spinner Digvesh Rathi not getting an opportunity to play.

 

Pant stated:

 

"The way we batted, because we couldn't get a partnership going for a long, we had to get a batsman in who can bowl a little bit. And that was the option we had to take as Impact Player because we were short on runs in a good surface."

 

Chasing 142, DC found themselves in a precarious 26 for 4 but were rescued by an unbeaten 119-run stand from Sameer Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs to register a win. Pant felt that the 20 extras conceded by the LSG were particularly detrimental to their cause.

 

Pant said:

 

"Definitely extras hurt. But at the same time, you know, when a wicket like this happens, you are trying too much. Especially in a score like 140 where you have to get them out because if they play even normal cricket, they can get away. But few extra crucial wickets in the starting actually put them on the back foot for sure."