Rishabh Pant has revealed that his decision to hold back from batting during Lucknow Super Giants' successful chase against Chennai Super Kings in Lucknow on 16 May was a deliberate team call — made to hand game time to fringe players who had seen little action in IPL 2026. LSG completed the chase of 188 comfortably, winning by seven wickets.

The Decision to Hold Back

Pant was visibly padded up in the dugout and appeared ready to walk in after LSG slipped from 135 for no loss in the 12th over to lose three quick wickets. Yet he stayed put. Nicholas Pooran came in at No. 3, followed by Abdul Samad and Mukul Choudhary, who saw the side home without needing their captain.

'I was in the dressing room. The idea came in: why not try players who have not played much, they haven't got much chances, and that was the idea,' Pant said at the post-match presentation.

Pant's Internal Conflict

The LSG captain admitted the call was not easy for him personally. 'I was thinking again and again, should I do it or not, because I still wanted to be out there in the field. But you know, sometimes you have to respect some things for the think tank,' he said.

Notably, Pant has been a consistent presence in LSG's middle order throughout the season, featuring in 11 innings — seven at No. 3, three at No. 4, and one at No. 3 — making his absence all the more conspicuous.

The Original Batting Blueprint

Pant shed light on LSG's pre-season plan, which envisaged two overseas batters opening the innings with Pooran at No. 3. 'That was the first thought — getting two overseas players to open the innings and Nicky batting at three,' he said. Against CSK, that template finally clicked, with Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis putting on 135 runs for the opening wicket.

However, the plan had been derailed for large stretches of the tournament. Inglis missed significant game time through injury, while Aiden Markram and Pooran struggled for consistency at different stages of the competition.

The Challenge of Too Many Opinions

'Sometimes it's difficult when thought process is not being implemented all the time,' Pant acknowledged. 'The only thing that can harm us is having too many thought process,' he added, hinting at the complexity of managing a multi-stakeholder team environment.

He also expressed measured frustration at the gap between planning and execution: 'It's frustrating when you know what you have as a team, just because of little thought process here and there and you can't implement things the way you want.'

What It Means for LSG Going Forward

The win demonstrated that LSG's batting depth can deliver even without Pant in the middle, a confidence-building signal as the tournament progresses. Whether the team's think tank continues to experiment with the order — or locks in a settled combination — will be a key storyline to watch in the remaining matches of IPL 2026.