New Delhi, 22 Mar

Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant is set to bat at number three in a potentially make or break IPL season beginning on 28 March.

Stakes are high for Pant going into second season as LSG skipper with the franchise having shelled out a record Rs 27 crore for hisservices at the 2025 mega auction.

Following the disappointment of last year, a successful season as a leader as well as a top-order batter can make him part of India's T20 plans going forward.

Across formats, Pant is only an integral member of the Indian Test side while being a backup wicket-keeper to KL Rahul in ODIs.

The 28-year-old lost his place in the T20 side following India's World Cup triumph in 2024 and would need to do something special to make a comeback considering Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan have made themselves automatic picks by the sheer weight of their recent performances.

Therefore, the upcoming IPL is not just about delivering on an exorbitant price tag, it is also about staying relevant in the shortest format.

Pant majorly batted at number four last season before rightly pushing himself to number three towards the end of the season by when it was too late to turn LSG's fortunes.

Nicholas Pooran will move down the order to make way for Pant with number four, five, six being used as floating positions.

The squad had a camp in Chennai and at the moment, they are going through the paces at their home ground in Lucknow ahead of their opener against Delhi Capitals on April 1.

The Justin Langer-led support staff and Pant are on the same page when it comes to their leader's batting position.

"It is clear to the team management as well as Pant that his game is best suited for number three. This season the top-order is locked in with Aiden, Marsh and Pant. The middle-order is flexible and players will be floated as per the game situation," an IPL source told PTI.

Pant batted at an underwhelming strike rate of 133.17 last year and 118 not out of his 269 runs came only in one innings.

The LSG middle-order comprises Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad and Shabaz Ahmed.

Bowling was LSG's weakest link last season with pacers including Mayank Yadav and Mohsin Khan not available due to injuries. The other pace options include Avesh Khan and Anrich Nortje, who is another injury prone quick.

"The batting is settled. The bowling group looks a lot better than last year but combinations are yet to be worked. Mayank is fit butneeds to bowl a lot more in the nets. Hopefully he will repay the faith the team has shown him over the past four to five years," the source added.

Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis picked Pant as the player who will be under most pressure this IPL.

"For me, Rishabh Pant is probably the player in the IPL, who is under the most pressure this season. Some guys flourish under the price tag pressure, while some don't. I think last season was a really tough one for him. The team struggled, and he also struggled with runs in the way that he batted.

"So, there is all that pressure coming into the season, along with the expectations of what the team is going to do. With a batting-heavy team, how are they going to maximize their bowling?

"Because there is pressure on your Captain, scoring runs is your first job. So, if he is scoring runs as a Captain, it takes pressure off in the first instance. But then there is a second instance, which is the team performance, overall. And last year, both of those things had big red crosses against them," Du Plessis told Jio Star.