2 min readUpdated: Mar 23, 2026 12:14 AM IST
In a bid to make up for lost time and opportunities in white-ball cricket, Rishabh Pant has seemingly undergone a rapid transformation in his physique and cricket over the last few months. Pant, who has been overlooked from India’s T20I squad over the last two years and demoted to the back-up wicket-keeper in ODI cricket, is gearing up for a pivotal IPL 2026 season with the Lucknow Super Giants.
The LSG captain was signed at Rs 27.50 crore last year, but his season ended with middling figures, compounded by the captaincy tag that had appeared to bog him down.
Before arriving in Chennai — where Lucknow have set up their pre-season base at former India bowling coach Bharat Arun’s academy, Coaching Beyond — Pant spent five days in Mumbai working with Yuvraj Singh, the Indian Express had reported last week. The sessions with Yuvraj, who has played a key role in the development of Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma, were focused on the basics: retaining shape, bat swing, and above all, clarity in shot selection. The idea, it is understood, was to keep things simple.
Former India off-spinner R Ashwin said that the brief stint with Yuvraj will augur well for Pant in the upcoming season.
“Maybe if he practices with Yuvraj Singh, he will perform well. This could be the Midas touch that Rishabh Pant needs. But if they want to use Rishabh Pant well, Rishabh Pant should be opening the batting or batting at No. 3, according to me. He should not bat below that,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin, however, said that Pant’s ideal entry point in the format is as an opener. “If you want to go with Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram, then where do you play Rishabh? The ideal number to get the best out of him has to be opening the batting because if your captain is firing, that team looks very, very different, and Rishabh Pant, inside the powerplay, will have fewer problems to sort out,” Ashwin remarked.
