Three-ball duck sparks big questions — Is Rishabh Pant lost in white-ball cricket?

The Rishabh Pant Issue: Experts Dissect LSG Captain's White-Ball Crisis

Another match, another failure. Rishabh Pant's struggles in IPL 2026 show no signs of easing, and after his three-ball duck against Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday night — in a game Lucknow Super Giants lost by 40 runs at the Ekana Stadium — the noise around the LSG captain's form has turned into a full-blown conversation.

Pant had looked like he'd turned a corner last time out, smashing 43 off 23 balls against Punjab Kings while chasing 255. But against Rajasthan, he was back to his now-familiar script: a flash of the bat, a nick, and a long walk back. LSG were bowled out for 119 chasing 160 — their fifth loss in seven games this season.

Pant's IPL 2026 Numbers — A Reality Check

• Innings: 7
• Runs: 147
• Average: 24.50
• Strike Rate: 132.43
• Fifties: 1 (68* vs SRH)

Compare that to 2018, when Pant smashed 684 runs at a strike rate of 173.60, and the gap becomes painfully clear. He hasn't matched those heights since.

Saba Karim: "He's yet to find his template"

Speaking on ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut show, former India wicketkeeper Saba Karim went straight to the heart of the matter — Pant, he believes, hasn't found a method that works for him in white-ball cricket.

Karim pointed to other modern T20 captains who bat with clear intent — Shreyas Iyer and Rajat Patidar, for instance — and suggested Pant's struggles come from a lack of that same clarity. According to Karim, Pant's thought process is far clearer in Test cricket than it is in the shorter formats, and the LSG captain is yet to crack the white-ball code even though he has shown flashes of brilliance in the past.

Dale Steyn: "Playing more than one game in his head"

The former South African pacer had a sharper diagnosis. According to Steyn, Pant is trying to be two batters at once — the free-flowing version of himself he has always been, and the aggressive captain-leading-from-the-front figure that Shreyas Iyer and Rajat Patidar have embodied this season. That internal tug-of-war, Steyn reckons, is showing up in his shot selection.

Faf du Plessis: Pressure of captaincy showing

Du Plessis backed up Steyn's reading. He suggested Pant seems almost obliged to play aggressively because other captains are setting the template by going hard themselves. Du Plessis invoked Virat Kohli as a counter-example — a batter who, on a tough pitch chasing 160, would happily play along the ground, cut out the dot-ball anxiety, and grind out an unbeaten 60. That kind of clarity, he implied, is exactly what Pant is missing right now.

Justin Langer: "He's feeling the pinch"

LSG head coach Justin Langer was honest but protective after the RR loss. He acknowledged Pant is under real pressure batting at the pivotal No. 3 slot, and said Pant came out aggressively against Punjab because the chase demanded it. Langer added that Pant will be as frustrated as anyone that it hasn't clicked, but defended the style of cricket his captain wants to play.

The Bigger Picture for LSG

Lucknow now sit near the bottom of the table, with just two wins in seven games. The season isn't over, but it's slipping fast. For LSG to turn things around, they need the Pant who scored 684 runs at a strike rate of 173 — not the one who managed 269 runs at 133 last season, and not the one who's 147 runs deep at 132 this time around.

The expert verdict is unanimous: the tools are there, the talent isn't in question. What Pant needs is a template — a clear, non-negotiable method he can fall back on whether he's walking in at 15/1 or 120/2. Until he finds it, every knock is going to feel like he's figuring it out on the fly.

What's Next for LSG?

LSG's next challenge comes later this week, and the pressure on Pant — both as a batter and as captain — will only grow. A big knock would silence the critics overnight. Another cheap dismissal, and the conversation will only get louder.