IPL 2025: Can a struggling Rishabh Pant make better impact as LSG opener?

Rishabh Pant, the golden boy of Indian cricket not so long ago, seems to be finding the going tough with the bat in IPL 2025 thus far. While his team Lucknow Super Giants returned to winning ways in the second game of the season against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday, their captain worth Rs 27 crore failed with the bat again.

Coming in at number four, he scored a six-ball duck in the first game against Delhi Capitals, failing to contribute to his team’s handsome total of 209/8 which was chased down in a thriller. In the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he struggled to force the pace in his innings of 15 in as many balls, eventually falling while going for a heave across the line and ending up in caught by Mohammed Shami at short third man.

It’s only the first week of the IPL, but the pertinent question doing the rounds is about Pant's utility at number four in the middle order. The wicketkeeper-batter’s overall showing at no. 4 has been decent in the IPL, with an average of 37.04 and strike-rate of 146.55, but Pant has been found wanting in the role in recent times, including India's T20 World Cup campaign. The Indian team management tried him at no. 3 in the US and Caribbean, but with modest returns.

The unforgiving social media has started trolling him as the ‘Rs 27 crore burden’, an unfair — but not unexpected — assessment in the present context. The pressure of such price tags has often told on the performance on proven customers like Mitchell Starc in the earlier part of IPL 2024, while the spotlight will be on the top three grossers in the last mega auction: Pant (Rs 27 cr); Shreyas Iyer (Rs 26.75 cr) and Venkatesh Iyer (Rs 23.75 cr).

’Rishabh Pant will give heart attack to Goenka one day!.’’ wrote @Sports_Himanshu on his X handle, referring to industrial baron Sanjeev Goenka — owner of the franchise — who has been an animated viewer along with son Saswat during their first two matches. Goenka, who had pulled out all stops to rope in Pant at any cost, was in the eye of a storm last season, when a video of him admonishing previous skipper K.L. Rahul went viral.

Unlike Iyer, who seems to have slipped into the captain’s role in his new franchise Punjab Kings effortlessly, Pant is still not looking in his element, and Venkatesh has failed in his lone innings so far. Since Pant was unable to find boundaries from the start, and was trying too hard to go for the big shots, it may make sense to field him as an opener, where he will have more time in the middle and can use the field restrictions to get his rhythm back.

It will also help LSG to have a left-hander alongside the right-handed Mitchell Marsh at the top of the order and if Pant gets going, their top three of Marsh, Pant and an in-form Nicholas Pooran can destroy any bowling attack in the world.

Aiden Markram, South Africa’s captain in the last T20 World Cup, has not fired in the two matches as an opener for LSG. His choice as an opener was rather surprising in the first place, as he has played in the middle order in T20s in the last few years and having him at no. 4 could help him get among the runs with a swap in batting positions with Pant.

Their next game at home against Punjab Kings on 1 April can be a right starting point for Pant to make an entry in the opener’s avatar.