Lucknow, May 16 Rishabh Pant has revealed that he deliberately chose not to bat during Lucknow Super Giants’ successful chase against Chennai Super Kings in Lucknow, saying the decision was taken to give opportunities to players who had not received enough game time in IPL 2026.
Padded up in the dugout and looking ready to bat, Pant was a surprise absentee even after LSG lost three wickets in quick succession after cruising to 135 for no loss in the 12th over in the chase of 188.
Nicholas Pooran, instead, came in at No. 3 followed by Abdul Samad and Mukul Choudhary as Lucknow eventually completed the chase comfortably with seven wickets in hand.
The decision came after discussions in the team management after the match explained the decision, Pant said.
“See, I was ready to bat and the idea came up,” Pant said at the post-match presentation.
“I was in the dressing room. The idea came in: why not try players who have not played much, they haven't got much chances, and that was the idea.”
Pant admitted he was initially uncertain about staying back despite wanting to be involved in the middle.
“I was thinking again and again, should I do it or not, because I still wanted to be out there in the field. But you know, sometimes you have to respect some things for the think tank.”
The move seemed a bit controversial considering Pant has batted at the top throughout the season. The left-handed batter has played 11 innings in IPL 2026 till now with 7 of those innings coming at number three, 3 at number four and 1 at number 3.
LSG have tinkered quite a bit with their batting order before finding a stable opening pair of Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis who put on 135 runs for the franchise at the top against CSK.
Pant added that the plan of the franchise from the beginning was to use the foreign batsmen in the top order.
“See, definitely that was the first thought,” Pant said when asked about loading the top order with overseas players.
“That getting two overseas players to open the innings and Nicky (Pooran) batting at three. That was the idea.”
However, Pant acknowledged that injuries and inconsistency prevented the plans from fully working this season. Inglis missed a large part of the tournament, while Aiden Markram and Pooran struggled for consistency at different stages.
“Sometimes it's difficult when thought process is not being implemented all the time,” Pant said.
“But at the same time, we take pride, and we are confident as a team. The only thing I would say is it's frustrating when you know what you have as a team, [but] just because of little thought process here and there and you can't implement things the way you want. Things can happen.”
Pant also hinted once again at the challenge of handling multiple opinions within the team environment.
“The only thing that can harm us is having too many thought process.”
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