The grip problem that is unravelling his white-ball game

The Overton dismissal exposed a weakness now extending to his defensive game — long considered a hallmark in Test cricket. As the ball skidded in towards off-stump from over the wicket, Pant’s bat failed to cover the line. Inside edge, back onto the stumps.

Pant’s dismissals in IPL 2026
Date	Opp	Score	Balls	Dismissal	Length	Line	Stroke	Connection
01 Apr	DC	7	9	Run-out	—	—	—	—
09 Apr	KKR	10	9	Caught	Short	Outside Off	Pull	Top edge
12 Apr	GT	18	11	Caught (covers)	Length	Wide Outside Off	Off Drive	Bottom edge
15 Apr	RCB	1	6	Caught (mid-wkt)	Full toss	Off-Stump	Flick	Good contact
19 Apr	PBKS	43	23	Caught behind	Yorker	Wide Outside Off	Square drive	Outside edge
22 Apr	RR	0	3	Caught behind	Length	Wide Outside Off	Slog Sweep	Outside edge
26 Apr	KKR	42	38	Caught behind	Full	Outside Off (spin)	Reverse Sweep	Glove
04 May	MI	15	10	Caught behind	Full	Wide Outside Off	Square Cut	Outside edge
10 May	CSK	15	12	Bowled	Length	Off-Stump	Push	Inside edge

Renowned batting coach Zubin Bharucha explains the crippling side effects of Pant’s technique. “The dismissal against Overton is because of the inability to close the bat face. He should have played with the full face, but that’s really tough with this bottom-hand grip. Hence, the inner edge. The bottom hand is also off the handle during impact.”

Pant’s bottom hand (left) has fallen off the bat before the Overton dismissal. (JioHotstar screengrab)

His wrists are no longer in sync. The bottom hand — left, for Pant — works against the flow of his top hand. The effects have seeped into multiple layers of his game: the falling scoops, the flicks and ramps that go one-handed, a pronounced deterioration of his off-side game. All of it traces back to one subtle slip — the angle of his grip on the bat handle.

ALSO READ | This is why Rishabh Pant the white-ball batsman fares poorly as compared to Test version

By convention, the thumb and index finger form a ‘V’ down the back of the handle — the foundational starting point when picking up a bat. Pant overextends this coil on his bottom hand, and the problems multiply from there.

“Pant’s grip is over-rotated clockwise, past the back of the bat where it should be, leaving the bat face open on almost every ball. He also can’t hold it firmly enough, causing the bottom hand to come off the handle on most shots. This means lesser power, which then forces him to look for runs behind the wicket as that’s the only option left,” explains Bharucha.

Rishabh Pant’s bat inadvertently turns on contact due to a weakened grip. (JioHotstar screengrab)

Not only does the wrongly-placed grip impede a full swing, but Pant’s bottom hand is nearly absent at the point of contact. “It’s not a backlift issue. He has his own unique way with a big follow-through. But you can’t do anything without holding the bat properly. If your hands are not functioning together, there’s no way you’re going to score a run,” says Bharucha.

Batting at three slots — No. 2, 3 and 4 — across 11 innings, Pant’s strike rate languishes at 138.67, against a top-4 cohort average of 163.46 this season. A blazing 32 not out off 10 deliveries against RCB on May 7 was the only instance his strike rate crossed 200. A rare slew of off-drives and reverse-ramps wowed the crowd — but Bharucha explained the strained adjustments Pant employs to stop his bat flipping on contact.

“Even when he was smacking it against RCB, he had to almost always make room to attack the off-side,” Bharucha says. “So you have to make all sorts of adjustments to get that bat face in the right place, and it’s super tough.”

The numbers confirm it. The pull shot — relatively easier to execute — has yielded 108 of his 520 runs since the 2025 season, but with only a 56.5 control percentage; he middled just 39 of 69 pulls. The slog — oxygen for any T20 batter — brought 22 runs from two dismissals, with only one in three deliveries middled. Leg-side strokes that require less precise contact — paddle scoop (27.3% control), slog sweep (50%) — have combined for 86 runs.

Rishabh Pant’s batting bee hive since IPL 2025: 13 of his 19 dismissals have come outside the off-stump. (Source: Cricket-21)

According to Cricket-21 data, Pant’s overall control stood at 66.7 per cent with a 128.3 strike rate after 50 games this season — well short of the top-4 cohort, who measured 73 per cent control.

The slipping control has hit his record against spin hardest. Since last season, Pant has scored 162 runs against spin at a strike rate of 129.6 — a far cry from the carnage he inflicted on spinners at his peak between 2017 and 2019. Bharucha traces the mental knock-on: “When he knows he’s not going to clear long off or long on, psychologically he is now thinking, ‘if I hit in the air it’s definitely not going for six, so what do I do?’”

The dwindling options have left him without a theme to build an innings. Of his nine dismissals this season, seven have come within 12 deliveries.

The off-side has become a specific hunting ground for bowlers. Eight of his nine IPL dismissals this season have come to deliveries on off-stump or wide outside off; 13 of 20 since last season. Nearly 62 per cent of his 520 runs since last year — 322 — have come through the on-side at a strike rate of 178. His entire off-side output: 198 runs at a strike rate of 97.5.

Rishabh Pant’s batting wagon wheel since IPL 2025: Over 62 percent of his runs have come on the leg-side. (Source: Cricket-21)

“It’s a miracle at this level,” says Bharucha. “Everybody has an off-side weakness, but this is not a weakness anymore. People say corridor of uncertainty and all this. This has nothing to do with uncertainty. This is just not being able to hit a ball.”

A faltering technique will continue to afford him leeway in Test cricket — devoid of expansive fields — where he is already India’s greatest six-hitter with 94 maximums in 49 Tests. The effects are magnified in the gung-ho expanses of white-ball cricket.

“Where he’s really floundering is that he has absolutely no control. As soon as he connects the ball, the hand turns. There’s nothing he can do to survive that. On a particular day, maybe his hand just sits better slightly on the handle, and he connects. Sometimes it could work,” reasons Bharucha.

Power-packed left-handers and wicket-keepers are now storming India’s white-ball circuits. Pant’s range no longer sets him apart. An erring technique could soon confine him to one format — and perhaps even begin to question his undisputed place in India’s Test setup.