NEW DELHI: Rishabh Pant’s bold move to open the innings didn’t go as planned as Lucknow Super Giants slumped to a defeat against Delhi Capitals in their IPL 2026 opener, raising questions about his role at the top.
Pant’s outing ended in a bizarre run-out in the third over. A straight drive from Mitchell Marsh was deflected onto the stumps by Mukesh Kumar, catching Pant well short at the non-striker’s end.
The LSG skipper, who scored 7 off 9 balls, walked off visibly frustrated after the unlucky dismissal.
Reflecting on the moment, Pant said, “I think the best way to recover from it is to ignore. I think that’s the best way looking forward because you know something like that, you can’t control, but thinking about it definitely puts you on the back-foot.”
He also admitted that the team struggled to build partnerships: “See, it’s always the case, but you know the way we batted, we couldn’t get a partnership going for long.”
Pant’s promotion to the top, breaking the established pair of Aiden Markram and Marsh, raised eyebrows. Addressing whether he will continue as opener, he said, “I think it’s a 50-50 call, but we’ll see. But definitely see me in the top order.”
LSG’s batting faltered throughout, managing just 141 in 18.4 overs despite starts from Markram and a fighting 35 from Marsh. Lungi Ngidi and T Natarajan starred with three wickets each, while Kuldeep Yadav chipped in with crucial breakthroughs.
Rizvi, Stubbs seal win for DC
Chasing 142, Delhi were in early trouble before Sameer Rizvi (70*) and Tristan Stubbs (39*) stitched a match-winning 119-run stand. Rizvi’s fearless hitting turned the game on its head as DC chased down the target in 17.1 overs.
With the opening experiment failing and LSG’s batting misfiring, Pant now faces a crucial call on his position going forward.
