File image of Rishabh Pant.© BCCI
Rishabh Pant was bought by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for an Indian Premier League (IPL) record fee of Rs 27 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction. However, the dashing wicket-keeper batter endured a forgettable first year at the franchise as they finished seventh in the standings. Apart from his century in LSG’s final game of 2025, Pant managed only 151 runs in 12 innings. Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis stated that Pant’s T20 record isn’t amazing and expressed confusion over his hefty price tag.
“You look at players like Pant in the auction and ask why there is such a big craze over someone like him if the game of T20 has evolved so much in terms of numbers from the analysts and coaches who are highly detailed on numbers,” du Plessis said, speaking on Star Sports.
“If you look at his T20 numbers, it’s not that great. So why is there such an obsession with him? Even in the previous auction, everyone wanted him in their team,” du Plessis added.
The former South Africa captain, who played for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) during his IPL career, criticised Pant’s approach in T20 cricket.
“It boils down to him having too many options in his head. It feels like he can score a six off every ball in every part of the ground. But you still need a method even for T20 batting.
“With the great T20 players, you have an idea of where they are going to score their boundaries and how they’ll work around their weaknesses. But with Pant, you feel like he’s always on the edge. You feel like he can get out at any stage, and it’s almost frantic at some stages,” du Plessis explained.
Pant is set to continue as captain of LSG in IPL 2026.