Indian wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant has been out of touch in the last two seasons of the IPL. Despite being the highest signing of the IPL, the LSG captain has been out of favour within the Indian white-ball setup.
Rishabh Pant shocked all with his stunning rise in the IPL, as he was bought for a massive worth of INR 27 crores by the Lucknow Super Giants, making it the highest ever bid in the history of franchise cricket. He captained Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2025, but did not have a successful season in the IPL.
Having played in all 14 games for the Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2025, he has amassed 269 runs at an average of less than 25; however, he scored a consolation hundred in the final game of the tournament. The 28-year-old has not been part of India’s white-ball setup since 2024.
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They are seeing him only as a red-ball player- ex-CSK batter exposes Rishabh Pant
Former CSK batter Subramaniam Badrinath believes that star wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant has gone out of favour within the Indian white-ball setup. He has also called out that this season will be crucial for him to make a turnaround.
Speaking about the same, Rishabh Pant, on his YouTube channel, highlighted Pant’s poor run in the white-ball format and his absence from the Indian team.
“There will be a lot of focus on Rishabh Pant. Let’s not forget, he was the most expensive player in the auction two years back. So there will be massive expectations on him. It is clear that he has gone out of favor within the Indian white-ball setup. They are seeing him only as a red-ball player,” said Subramaniam Badrinath on Rishabh Pant.
The upcoming IPL season is huge for Pant- Subramaniam Badrinath
The former CSK star felt that the upcoming IPL 2026 season would be massive for the Southpaw, as the 28-year-old would be lining up to make a return to the white-ball setup for India. He was part of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 and ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Indian squad.
“If he has to create headlines in white-ball cricket, the upcoming IPL season is huge for Pant. Captaincy has seemingly diminished his free-flowing batting,” Badrinath feels captaincy has taken away the flamboyant batting style from Pant.
“He has not been very consistent in the last two IPL seasons. He hasn’t delivered much in white-ball cricket. Except for that one century at the end, he didn’t do anything last season. It was just a face-saving hundred,” he added.
They aren’t a great side- Badrinath exposes LSG ahead of IPL 2026
While LSG struggled in their last IPL season with just 6 wins in 14 games and finished seventh in the points table, Badrinath has not given them many chances to better their results in the upcoming season as well.
“They aren’t a great side. More than them performing well, they have a chance only if other teams mess it up. But they have great overseas batters and a decent bowling lineup as well,” said Badrinath (via the aforementioned source).
He has acknowledged the promising overseas batting strength in their side, which includes batters like Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Josh Inglis, and Nicholas Pooran, who have also been in great touch.
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