Watch: Sanjay Bangar explains how Rishabh Pant’s poor form hurts LSG in struggling IPL 2026

In the last couple of seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Rishabh Pant has not been in clinical touch with the bat since joining the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Last year, the left-handed batter smashed 269 runs in 13 innings at an average of 24.45 and a strike rate of 133.16 with one fifty and one century. And the same issue has continued even in this season.

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Lucknow Super Giants are currently at the bottom of the points table with two victories in nine encounters at a net run rate (NRR) of -1.076. They have five clashes left for the remainder of the tournament and could be nearly out of the competition.

Sanjay Bangar highlights Rishabh Pant’s poor IPL 2026 campaign

In IPL 2026, Rishabh Pant has collected only 204 runs in nine innings at an average of 25.50 and a strike rate of 128.30 with one half-century at the best score of unbeaten 68 runs, which helped them to earn the victory against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

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The former Indian batting coach, Sanjay Bangar, felt that the LSG captain’s bad form has put massive pressure on the franchise’s balance. He also reckoned that the leader had been lacking a bit of composure in his communication.

“Yes, that’s the case (Pant’s form affecting Lucknow). If you take that one inning away, I mean, if you are scoring runs, I think he would have been far clearer in terms of his decision-making, and also whatever he is communicating, because it’s actually very important for a captain to maintain that stability around.” Bangar told in an interaction on ESPNcricinfo.

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“You know that inside you are boiling or inside you are hurting, but still at the forefront, you have to actually fake composure. And that’s something which has been lacking so far in whatever we have seen of Rishabh while communicating with the broadcasters.” He addressed. 

Can LSG still qualify for IPL 2026 playoffs?

It’s very unlikely for the Super Giants to qualify for the playoffs of the IPL 2026. They are currently on a six-match losing streak and will now need to win all five encounters for the remainder of the event, which could still put them in a position to be dependent on the other results.

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Lucknow’s next game against Bengaluru will be incredibly tough before they come up against the Chennai Super Kings in two successive games. Hope will always be there, but do they have enough gas left to get the final firepower? Lucknow and its fans will hope, but realistically, it has the slimmest chance.