New Delhi: Bharat Ratna in Lucknow Shri Atil Bihari Vajpey was getting out of the roar inside the Cricket Stadium because Rishabh Pant went out to open the innings. Lucknow Super Giants against Gujarat Titans In IPL 2025 Conflict on Saturday. With Aiden Markram, the return on top of the order of the pants was greeted with thunderous and mantras, as fans welcomed the bold step with open weapons. It marked a significant moment in the T20 travel of the pants.
Prior to this match, he had opened batting in formats only 21 times in T20, with 644 runs at an impressive strike rate of 162.21 and an average of 32.2, five fifties and a century with his name.
However, in the IPL, Pants had rarely depicted as a opener – he was already working only four times in his debut season in 2016.
His return as a opener in IPL 2016 was a mixed bag: 69 runs 40, 2 runs 8, 32 off 26, and 1 off 2.
Since then, the pants had firmly established themselves in the mid -order, where they played most of their match winning knock. After about nine years, his return to the top now shows a strategic change from the Lucknow franchise and intends to maximize his explosive batting in the powerplay overs.
The last time the pants were opened in a T20 match, in 2022, Napier was for India for India against New Zealand. He scored 11 runs as the match ended in a tie (DLS method).
Pants as a opener in T20s (before today)
Inse: 21
Run: 644
AVG: 32.2
SR: 162.21
50/100: 5/1
Get the latest IPL 2025 update on Times of India, including match schedule, team squad, points table and IPL Live Score for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBK and RR. Do not remember the list of players in the race for IPL Orange Cap and IPL Purple Cap.
