After purchasing the services of the great wicketkeeper-batter during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction last month in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sanjiv Goenka, owner of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), has hinted at the star’s possible batting position.
When the Super Giants signed Pant for an incredible INR 27 crore, he became the most expensive player in IPL history. After spending eight seasons with the Delhi Capitals, Pant will now call LSG his second IPL home.
According to Sanjiv Goenka, Pant might bat at No. 3 or start the innings for Lucknow in the upcoming IPL.
He mentioned Mitchell Marsh of Australia and Aiden Markram of South Africa as further possible opening batsmen.
“Opening with Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh, Markram and Rishabh, or Marsh and Rishabh Pant are the options. They must now decide if Rishabh will arrive at number two or number three. Those are calls that, to be honest, are outside of my area of expertise and competency,” Goenka stated during his YouTube conversation with Aakash Chopra.
It’s interesting to note that in the lucrative league, Pant has only opened the batting on four of his 110 innings. At a strike rate of 136.84 and an average of 26, he has amassed 104 runs.
Goenka added that LSG was searching for explosive openers and had their eye on England’s white-ball captain Jos Buttler. Buttler ultimately paid INR 15.75 crore to join the Gujarat Titans.
“We had three situations ready. One was with Jos Buttler and Rishabh Pant. Choosing an explosive opening pair that provides 60 to 85 runs in the powerplay was the plan. Lot one was occupied by Jos. That is how we would have proceeded if we had been successful. “We didn’t understand that,” he said.
Both fans and pundits are considering Pant and Nicholas Pooran as possible LSG captains. According to Goenka, the decision has been reached and will be made public in the coming days.
“People are easily taken by surprise. My own opinion is that I don’t deliver surprises. We will make the announcement within the next three days, but it has already been determined,” Goenka said.
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