Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has backed Rishabh Pant to open the innings for LSG in the upcoming IPL 2026. Ashwin said training with Yuvraj Singh would have helped Rishabh Pant ahead of the upcoming season.

Pant is currently not in the scheme of things for India’s white-ball teams, and a good season in the IPL can help him bounce back. Meanwhile, Pant didn’t have a great run in IPL 2025, scoring 269 runs in 14 matches at an average of under 25. Barring scoring a century in the last league stage match, Pant could not lead from the front.

The wicket-keeper was bought for a whopping amount of INR 27 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction but failed to justify his huge price tag.

Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel, “Maybe if he practices with Yuvraj Singh, he will perform well. This could be the Midas touch that Rishabh Pant needs. But if they want to use Rishabh Pant well, Rishabh Pant should be opening the batting or batting at No. 3, according to me. He should not bat below that.”

The former Tamil Nadu cricketer said opening would be Pant’s ideal position in the upcoming season. Last year, Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh had opened the innings for LSG.

“If you want to go with Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram, then where do you play Rishabh? The ideal number to get the best out of him has to be opening the batting because if your captain is firing, that team looks very, very different, and Rishabh Pant, inside the powerplay, will have fewer problems to sort out. They will have to forgo one of their foreign batters and strengthen their bowling with foreign quicks.”

Pant has scored 3553 runs in 125 IPL matches at an average of 34.16 and a strike rate of 147.62, including 19 fifties and two centuries.

LSG will begin their IPL 2026 campaign against the Delhi Capitals on 1st April at Lucknow.