Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis advised Rishabh Pant to curb his high-risk attitude and strive for consistency in IPL 2026. He also suggested that the hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batter should bat at No. 3 to maximize his influence.
When Pant struggled with consistency last season, he moved from being No. 4 to opener and further down the order. But at No. 3, he ultimately gave his best performance, scoring an undefeated 118 off 61 balls in the Lucknow Super Giants’ most recent league game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
“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,” PTI quoted du Plessis as saying on JioStar’s IPL Today Live.
“Looking at LSG’s 2026 auction and their strategy around who they signed, you look at that top-heavy batting line-up — Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh and Pooran are the main ones alongside Pant,” added the former RCB skipper.
Pant, who was acquired for a record Rs 27 crore ahead of IPL 2025, has high expectations going into the next season. But LSG’s first season as captain was disappointing, as they were placed seventh. In the 2025 Indian Premier League, he had a dismal batting season, amassing 269 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of slightly over 133 and an average of 24.45.
“When I look at him, he is almost like a highlight player. I want him to be more of a high-impact player in terms of what he can give in his numbers. He needs to figure out exactly what his game plan looks like to give himself the best chance,” du Plessis said.
Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first match of the 2026 Indian Premier League on Saturday in Bengaluru. On April 1, LSG will begin their season at home against Delhi Capitals.
Du Plessis emphasized the disparity between Pant’s tremendous talent and his T20 cricket returns.
“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,” he said.
Elite T20 batters, the South African said, have a distinct attitude. “Look at all the great T20 players. You can almost have an idea of where they will score their boundaries and where they have slight weaknesses. They work their way through that.
“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 observed.
Du Plessis also drew attention to Pant’s low strike rate in relation to his range for shots.
“The surprising number for me is his T20 strike rate, which is around 130. How is that possible for a guy with so many shots? Maybe it is because we watch him in Test cricket playing these extravagant, exuberant innings, taking the game on. We almost feel that should just happen in T20 cricket as well,” he said.
He advised Pant to play based on the merit of the ball and to curb his aggressive style.
“Pant’s stroke play is one that looks all over the place. There is some sort of method and game plan that goes into his head. He has a blueprint for how he wants to play Test cricket. The same thing applies in T20 cricket.
“Not to be a one out of 10 or two out of 10 kind of player, but to be in the 60 to 70 per cent range where he can have consistency. To do that, you can’t premeditate every ball. That is too high risk. Yes, you might hit a few sixes and play a couple of good innings,” du Plessis said.
“But when teams bowl wide to him, he is good enough to have something else in his armoury to hit through the offside. His game plan is not one-dimensional. He can score all around the ground. For me, it is about his first six balls,” he added.
