Former Indian batter Subramanian Badrinath highlighted that the upcoming Indian Premier League 2026 is a huge edition for LSG captain Rishabh Pant. Badrinath said Pant is currently not in the scheme of things for India’s white-ball teams, and a good season in the IPL can help him bounce back.

Meanwhile, Pant didn’t have a great run in IPL 2025, scoring 269 runs in 14 matches at an average of under 25. Barring scoring a century in the last league stage match, Pant could not lead from the front.

The wicket-keeper was bought for a whopping amount of INR 27 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction but failed to justify his huge price tag.

Badrinath said on his YouTube Channel, “There will be a lot of focus on Rishabh Pant. Let’s not forget, he was the most expensive player in the auction two years back. So there will be massive expectations on him. It is clear that he has gone out of favor within the Indian white-ball setup. They are seeing him only as a red-ball player.”

“If he has to create headlines in white-ball cricket, the upcoming IPL season in huge for Pant. Captaincy has seemingly diminished his free-flowing batting. He has not been very consistent in the last two IPL seasons. He hasn’t delivered much in white-ball cricket. Except that one century at the end, he didn’t do anything last season. It was just a face-saving hundred.”

Meanwhile, the former CSK batter reckons LSG will have their chances if other teams don’t perform as per their potential.

“They aren’t a great side. More than them performing well, they have a chance only if other teams mess it up. But they have great overseas batters and a decent bowling lineup as well,” said Badrinath (via the aforementioned source).

LSG will begin their IPL 2026 campaign against the Delhi Capitals on 1st April at Lucknow.