Indian wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant has been out of form in the last two seasons of IPL. Despite being the top signing of the IPL, the LSG skipper has fallen out of favor with the Indian white-ball setup.
Rishabh Pant surprised everyone with his spectacular rise in the IPL as he was bought by Lucknow Supergiants for a whopping price of Rs 27 crore, making it the biggest bid ever in the history of franchise cricket. He captained Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2025, but his season in IPL was not successful.
Having played all 14 games for Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2025, he has scored 269 runs at an average of less than 25; However, he scored a consolation century in the final game of the tournament. The 28-year-old player is not a part of India’s white-ball team after 2024.
They are seeing him only as a red-ball player – former CSK batsman exposes Rishabh Pant
Former CSK batsman Subramaniam Badrinath believes that star wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant has fallen out of favor in the Indian white-ball setup. He has also said that this season will be important for him to bring about a change.
Speaking about the same, Rishabh Pant, on his YouTube channel, highlighted Pant’s poor performance in the white-ball format and his absence from the Indian team.
Subramaniam Badrinath said on Rishabh Pant, “There will be a lot of focus on Rishabh Pant. We should not forget, he was the most expensive player in the auction two years ago. So there will be a lot of expectations from him. It is clear that he has fallen out of favor with the Indian white-ball team. They are only looking at him as a red-ball player.”
The upcoming IPL season is very big for Pant- Subramaniam Badrinath
The former CSK star felt that the upcoming IPL 2026 season will be huge for the southpaw, as the 28-year-old will be ready to make a comeback in the white-ball setup for India. He was part of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 and ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Indian squads.
“If he is to grab the limelight in white-ball cricket, the upcoming IPL season is huge for Pant. Captaincy has curtailed his free-flowing batting,” Badrinath feels, adding that captaincy has taken away the flamboyant batting style from Pant.
“His performance in the last two IPL seasons has not been very good. He has not done much in white-ball cricket. Apart from that one century at the end, he did nothing last season. It was just a face-saving century,” he said.
They are not a great team – Badrinath exposes LSG ahead of IPL 2026
While LSG struggled in their last IPL season with just 6 wins in 14 matches and finished seventh on the points table, Badrinath did not give them many chances to improve their results in the upcoming season as well.
Badrinath said (via the above source), “They are not a great team. Apart from performing well, they only have a chance when other teams mess up. But they also have great overseas batsmen and a good bowling lineup.”
He acknowledged the excellent overseas batting strength in his team, which includes batsmen like Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Josh Inglis and Nicholas Pooran, who are also in good touch.
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