Rishabh Pant is all set to enter the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. Like the team, the captain has also updated himself ahead of IPL 2026. Pant is now a lot leaner, sharp, and absolutely fit to go.
As soon as Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) shared a video of their newly formed squad, with captain Rishabh Pant as the central piece, it attracted a lot of attention from cricket fans on social media platforms. Like Rohit Sharma, who visibly lost a lot of weight, Pant is now looking similar.
Rishabh Pant lost a significant amount of weight
After a hard training session, when the media asked him how much weight he had lost, the keeper-batter replied (as quoted by the Indian Express), “Woh maat puchiye (don’t ask that).”
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Thanks to the former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, who helped the swashbuckling batter come out of an injury-prone state again. According to a report by ESPNcricinfo, Pant sought Yuvraj’s help to fine-tune his batting skills. The two collaborated in Mumbai last week.
A few months back, when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was badly looking for a keeper-batter for the white-ball format, before the T20 World Cup 2026, Pant suddenly got injured and was ruled out of the selection contention. At that moment, Jitesh Sharma was also unavailable for selection. Later, it was Ishant Kishan who made the final cut and marked his return to the international camp to play the showcase tournament.
Both Rishabh Pant and LSG will have to prove their strengths
Rishabh Pant will have to prove himself again. The keeper-batters of India, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan did well in the T20 World Cup 2026 to help the team defend the title. If Rishabh wants to make himself a solid case for selection in the white-ball team, then he will have to perform brilliantly in the IPL 2026 season.
Like the captain, the team, Lucknow Super Giants, will have to do the same to at least reach the playoffs. Last season, they finished seventh in the ten-team points table. LSG invested heavily in Rishabh Pant; now, it is time for the cricketer to pay the franchise back.
| Rishabh Pant – IPL 2025 Batting Stats | ||||||||||||
| Team | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Avg | BF | SR | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s |
| LSG | 14 | 13 | 2 | 269 | 118* | 24.45 | 202 | 133.16 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 16 |
Lucknow Super Giants’ first match of IPL 2026 will be against the Delhi Capitals
“A lot of people are from last year. A few new faces for sure. Welcome, everyone. Let’s look to build the relationships. If we don’t talk about cricket, we’re not going to improve. As an individual, let’s take whatever we can from all these gentlemen here and try to build something for this season to look forward to, we’re not going to improve,” Pant said to the LSG team members who gathered for preparations in Chennai.
LSG is expected to have its full squad in the training facilities by March 16. The early camps are to create a bond between the players and an early foundation, which could later help the team to create momentum in the tournament. LSG will start their campaign on April 1, at their home ground, Ekana Stadium, against the Delhi Capitals.
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