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Former RCB skipper Faf du Plessis believes Rishabh Pant should bat at number 3 for LSG in the upcoming IPL season. Du Plessis further added that the LSG captain needs to balance his risk against reward approach and maximise his impact with the bat.
Pant played at No 4 last season, before shifting to lower down the order and even as an opener last season. The LSG skipper had a forgettable season before producing his best score of 118 not-out of 61 balls in the last league game.
“Maybe there is an opportunity for Pant to bat at number three. The numbers suggest that for him to be the best player he can be, number three looks good. I see him batting at number three for LSG this season with Nicholas Pooran sliding down to number four,” said du Plessis, speaking on JioStar`s `IPL Today Live`.
LSG brought Pant for a record 27 crore before the start of last season. However, his first season as a captain was poor as LSG finished seventh and Pant scored 269 runs in 13 innings at an average of 24.45 with a strike rate just over 133.
Du Plessis explained the difference between Pant`s ability in Test cricket and compared it to his T20 approach.
“The talent that Pant has is tremendous. You look at him playing Test cricket, and you think, this guy has all the shots. When I look at his game, I feel he has too many options in his head. He feels like he can hit a six off every ball to any part of the ground.”
“But in T20 batting, you still need a method. You need a game plan for how you go about your business. With Pant, I feel he is always on the edge. When you watch him play, you feel he can get out at any time because it is almost frantic at times,” du Plessis said.
Lucknow Super Giants 2026 Squad:
Rishabh Pant (c), Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Josh Inglis, Matthew Breetzke, Himmat Singh, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Mukul Choudhary, Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arshin Kulkarni, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan, Mayank Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Mohsin Khan, Manimaran Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, Arjun Tendulkar, Naman Tiwari.
(With PTI Input)
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