IPL 2026: Ravichandran Ashwin Gives an Interesting Advice to Rishabh Pant

The Lucknow Super Giants, under the captaincy of Rishabh Pant, have kicked off their IPL 2026 campaign in a disappointing manner. They lost their opening fixture at home, i.e., at the BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium by 6 wickets against the Delhi Capitals. While the result disappointed LSG fans, the bigger surprise was Rishabh Pant stepping out to open alongside Australia’s T20I skipper, Mitchell Marsh.

Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram formed a formidable pairing in IPL 2025 at the top for the Lucknow Super Giants. The duo stitched together over 700 runs last season and were the cornerstone of LSG’s batting unit. However, Pant himself coming out to open the innings was quite a surprise for the fans, as they were expecting Markram to continue partnering Marsh. Pant struck a crisp boundary down the ground, but his seven‑run cameo from nine balls ended in misfortune as he was run out at the non‑striker’s end when the ball ricocheted off Mukesh Kumar’s hands in his follow-through and clipped the stumps.

After LSG’s defeat, in the post-match presentation ceremony, Pant was asked if he would open the innings in the coming games or not, to which the LSG skipper gave a sporadic response, saying he is 50-50 on his call. However, this statement didn’t impress Pant’s former Indian teammate Ravichandran Ashwin, who urged the wicket-keeper batter to continue opening the innings for the Lucknow Super Giants.

Ravichandran Ashwin wants Rishabh Pant to continue at the top for LSG

Ravichandran Ashwin threw his verdict and backed the LSG skipper to continue opening the innings for the Super Giants. Pant, who has opened before in the tournament for the Delhi Capitals in the early stage of his IPL career, did the same for the Super Giants for the first time. On his YouTube channel, Ravichandran Ashwin backed this idea by saying,

“It was very unfortunate the way Rishabh Pant got out, and even more unfortunate the way he talked after the match. He was asked whether he would open the innings, and he replied 50-50. I request you with folded hands, please open in every match. Justin Langer, or whoever is there in the LSG team management, should go and tell Rishabh Pant to go out there and play freely in the powerplay. Go and play the entire 14 games as an opener,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

“If he comes into bat after the powerplay, the bowlers have a strategy to stop him. So, I think he should open the batting, for himself and for LSG as well.”

Pant had a terrible time in IPL 2025. The 28-year-old wicketkeeper could only manage 269 runs in the entire season after playing 14 games at an awful average of 24.45 and a strike rate quite low from his standards, i.e., 133.17. He had a miserable season until LSG’s last league game against the eventual champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, where he scored an unbeaten 118 to help his team bow out with a consolation. If we remove that knock, Pant had only managed 151 runs from 13 innings in the entire last season.

The LSG skipper is struggling in white-ball cricket of late. He has lost his place in India’s white-ball squads, i.e., ODIs and T20Is, as he plays Test cricket for Team India as the deputy of Shubman Gill. This IPL season has to be grand for Pant to push his name forward for the upcoming T20I and ODI assignments of Team India. In fact, his performance remains vital for the Lucknow franchise, as they have invested a record-breaking INR 27 crore to fetch his services during the IPL 2025 auctions. After one cold season, the franchise can’t afford to witness their skipper failing with the bat yet again.