Former England captain Kevin Pietersen Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain Rishabh Pant's batting position has been questioned after LSG's defeat against Delhi Capitals (DC) in the opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.
Surprising everyone, the LSG skipper opened the batting for his team alongside Mitchell Marsh against his former IPL team. Ultimately Pant was out after scoring seven runs due to an unfortunate runout.
Pietersen, who is working as a broadcaster for the marquee T20 league, said Pant should just enjoy his cricket rather than reshuffling his batting position. The wicketkeeper batsman was batting in the middle order last year, while Marsh and Aiden Markram formed a strong opening pair for LSG.
“When you look at the strength and depth of LSG's batting, is Rishabh Pant really an opening batsman? I think he might have moved a little too far into the line-up compared to last year,” Pietersen told GeoHotStar.
Pietersen added, “Last year, he went down the order, and now suddenly it's like, 'I'm going to be at the top.' I think he just needs to go out and enjoy his cricket.”
According to the former English batsman, by coming to bat in the upper order he is putting pressure on himself and will not let this happen. pant To enjoy his batting a little more.
Pietersen concluded, “Don't force yourself to bat at (number) three, enjoy the luxury of that position. I think he puts himself under tremendous pressure by opening the batting.”
LSG's performance against DC was disappointing as the visiting team defeated them badly. After scoring just 140 runs batting first, LSG suffered a six-wicket defeat at the hands of Axar Patel's side, with Sameer Rizvi scoring a match-winning inning of 70 runs off 47 balls.
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