Lucknow Super Giants have gotten off to a rollercoaster start to their IPL (Indian Premier League) 2025 campaign. Facing a defeat in their first game against Delhi Capitals, Lucknow followed it up with an exceptional performance against Sunrisers Hyderabad, winning their first game of the season.
Despite two strong performances with the bat, LSG's Rishabh Pant has been unable to put in a good showing. The star batter departed for a duck in his first game of the season and followed it up by scoring 15 runs in just as many deliveries in the clash against SRH.
Seeing his subpar performances in the first two matches, former England cricketer Michael Vaughan took centre stage and suggested Pant open the batting for LSG in the upcoming games of the IPL 2025.
"He's that player, like Pooran, because he can play at all positions - brilliant at the top, at No. 3 or 4, and play a great role at 5 and 6. But, fundamentally, I'll be looking and asking 'Could he get me a 120 on his own'? ' Yes, he can. Where's he likely to get a 120 from? At the top of the order,” Vaughan told Cricbuzz.
It is interesting to note that Pant has only opened four times in his IPL career. The star batter has only averaged 26 runs with a lone half-century at the top of the order. Furthermore, Vaughan talked about how opening the batting for LSG could go on to help Pant negate the threat of being bounced out in the powerplay.
"Rishabh coming in at No. 4, outside the powerplay, he can get bounced. Like Pat Cummins today bowling him a couple of beauties which shook him up a bit. Whereas in the powerplay, you can afford to try a bouncer but it's a huge risk. Because you flap it and it flies and with only two fielders outside the circle, it's going to go somewhere safe," said Vaughan.