Rishabh Pant has come to an important point in his career. The performance in the upcoming IPL 2026 with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) could prove to be crucial in shaping his international career, as the keeper-batsman has continued to fall short for Team India in the white-ball formats in the past.
LSG had bought the swashbuckling batsman for Rs 27 crore in the last auction, which was the biggest amount spent by a franchise to secure a player. Pant looked under pressure due to his form for most parts of the IPL 2025 season, which also affected the team’s performance. Pant, considered the mainstay of the Indian national cricket team, was ruled out of the T20Is due to injury and was also out of the ODI squad.
Rishabh Pant is learning from Yuvraj Singh before IPL 2026
The cricketer, who has been battling injuries, is determined to revive his career to make his place permanent in the national set-up. Ahead of the IPL 2026 season, the star cricketer spent a lot of time with former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh, who helped Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh shape their respective professional careers.
In a recent YouTube video, Irfan Pathan shared some insights about Rishabh Pant’s comprehensive lessons with Singh. Pathan revealed that more than working on the technical parts of batting, his former teammate focused on Pant’s mental state through hours of pep talks.
Irfan Pathan told how Yuvraj trained Pant
Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube channel, “After working with Yuvraj Singh, I spoke to Yuvi and Yuvi told me that more than the technical aspects, he worked with Rishabh on the mental side of the game. 3-4 hour sessions were dedicated to just talking.”
Irfan Pathan further said, “He has also spent 4-5 days with Yuvraj Singh. Now we have to see how he brings those learnings on the field. He always looked under pressure last year. It seemed like he was not enjoying cricket. He needs to enjoy cricket.”
Pathan asked Lucknow Super Giants to field Pant as the No. 3 batsman in the line-up
Pathan suggests that Lucknow Super Giants use Pant as their No. 3 batsman. For the number 3 position, the team management will have to choose between its captain Rishabh Pant and West Indies batsman Nicholas Pooran. Pathan believes that the franchise should ask Pant to bat at number 3 so that the team can get maximum benefit from the powerplay.
The former cricketer said, “It is very important that Rishabh Pant gets a chance to bat during the powerplay. Nicholas Pooran has batted for him at No. 3, but Rishabh Pant should be prepared to bat at No. 3 so that he can bat in the powerplay.”
“Rishabh Pant has done well in this league, he has an average of 34 and a strike rate of around 150, and he has scored 3500 runs. It shows that you have shown your dominance in this league. The performances are there, the match-winning innings are there, but it has to be taken further”, he also said.
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