Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen didn't hold back while questioning Lucknow Super Giants' decision to choose Rishabh Pant to open the innings against Delhi Capitals on Wednesday. In a surprising move, the LSG leadership decided to split last season’s successful pairing of Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram, promoting Pant to open alongside Marsh. The gamble, however, backfired early. Pant, unfamiliar with the role for some time, struggled from the outset. He managed just seven runs before being run out at the non-striker’s end. The dismissal came after Delhi’s Mukesh Kumar cleverly deflected a straight hit from Marsh, leaving Pant stranded on the non-striker's end.
Pant has stepped in as an opener in 23 T20 innings during his career, scoring 672 runs, including one century and five fifties, at an impressive strike rate of 158.49. This is notably higher than his overall career strike rate of 144 and better than his combined strike rate of 141 when batting at No. 4 or 5. However, his recent experience opening for India in 2022 alongside Rohit Sharma tells a different story. In that experiment, Pant managed just 71 runs across five innings, averaging only 14.2, showing that despite his strong domestic and franchise record, success at the top of the order at the international level has been inconsistent and challenging for him.
Pietersen openly questioned LSG’s decision to promote Pant to open against Delhi Capitals. He felt the move was a step ahead of Pant’s usual position in the batting order and suggested that, despite LSG’s strong batting line-up, assigning him as an opener might have been too ambitious.
"I saw a lot of indiscipline from the LSG bowlers. Rishabh Pant addressed that, saying they needed to try everything to take wickets, and I completely understand that. But when you look at the strength and depth of LSG's batting, is Rishabh Pant really an opening batter? I think he might have gone a little too far ahead of where he was in the line-up compared to last year," PIetersen said on JioHotstar.
{{/usCountry}}"I saw a lot of indiscipline from the LSG bowlers. Rishabh Pant addressed that, saying they needed to try everything to take wickets, and I completely understand that. But when you look at the strength and depth of LSG's batting, is Rishabh Pant really an opening batter? I think he might have gone a little too far ahead of where he was in the line-up compared to last year," PIetersen said on JioHotstar.
{{/usCountry}}“Don’t force yourself”
The former English skipper continued his criticism of Pant’s promotion, pointing out how the sudden shift in batting position could be doing more harm than good. He suggested the change has added unnecessary pressure on Pant instead of allowing him to play with freedom in a more familiar role.
"Last year, he moved down the order, and now suddenly it's, ‘I'm going to come up to the top.’ I think he just needs to go out and enjoy his cricket. Don’t force yourself into batting at three, enjoy the luxury of that position. I think he puts himself under tremendous pressure by opening the batting," he added.