Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper Rishabh Pant has spoken up on the decision to send Ayush Badoni to open the innings alongside Mitchell Marsh in the match against Punjab Kings (PBKS) today (April 19) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2026). The decision was surprising since LSG already have a set opening duo in Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram.
The pair of Markram and Marsh enjoyed a stellar last season, where they finished as the second-highest run-scorers amongst opening pairs with 574 runs in 12 innings, comprising four fifty-plus stands and one century partnership.
Furthermore, Lucknow needed to chase down a massive target of 255 against Punjab and thus, the decision to experiment with Ayush Badoni as an opener raised questions. The move did not benefit LSG much as the young right-hander fell for a 21-ball 35 after making a decent start.
When quizzed on the same lines, Lucknow captain Rishabh Pant revealed during the post-match presentation ceremony of the PBKS vs LSG match,
“I think the idea was to just go out there and play freely. It wasn’t taken just today. It was pre-decided that he’s going to open. It was just something we kept inside. We wanted some freedom on the top order and just (the) middle order wanted to chip in.”
LSG has been constantly changing their batting lineup this season and is yet to find a set order. Out of the six matches so far in IPL, Marsh and Markram have opened in four and haven’t been able to combine and do an encore of their heroics last season yet. Rishabh Pant tried opening in the first game but backfired and the Badoni move too did not reap much reward. Also, they have demoted Nicholas Pooran to No.5 and he has struggled massively with four single digit scores in six innings while failing to cross the 20-run mark even once.
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Apart from the team combinations, Pant’s captaincy also wasn’t on point and it cost LSG the contest. The biggest blunder came early in the match. After Mohammed Shami had removed PBKS opener Prabhsimran Singh for a golden duck in the first over, LSG had the chance to further dent the opposition in the very next over.
Mohsin Khan trapped Cooper Connolly lbw when he was batting on 4 and while the on-field umpire turned down the appeal, Mitchell Marsh and the bowler showed strong confidence for a DRS. However, Pant eventually decided not to review it with replays later confirming that the Aussie was a goner. Cooper Connolly made the most of the lifeline and punished Pant and LSG with a cracking innings of 46-ball 87, being one of the chief contributors alongside Priyansh Arya’s 93(37) to the massive PBKS total of 254/7 in 20 overs.
The next decision was not to back left-arm spinner Manimaran Siddharth, who was brought into the LSG Playing XI in place of Digvesh Rathi. With two left-handers at the crease, Pant limited Siddharth, not using him in the powerplay. He was more keen on using his right-arm off-break options for matchup reasons and tried used Badoni after the powerplay where he leaked 14 runs before bringing on Siddharth against the PBKS duo for one over, which went for 10 runs.
Rishabh Pant once again went back to his right-arm offspinner in the part-timer Aiden Markram and the decision to use the Proteas backfired miserably, as he was taken to the cleaners for a massive 32-run over, which changed the complexion of the game.
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