Pant has tremendous talent, says du Plessis

Faf du Plessis says Rishabh Pant needs a clearer and more structured approach in T20 cricket, highlighting inconsistency in his game. He suggests Pant bat at number three for LSG and focus on a defined game plan to improve performance.

Hyderabad: “The talent that Rishabh Pant has is tremendous. You look at him playing Test cricket and you think, this guy has all the shots. When I look at his game, I feel he has too many options in his head. He feels like he can hit a six off every ball to any part of the ground,” says Faf du Plessis, former South African captain and JioStar expert.

In a special show on JioStar, du Plessis said: “But in T20 batting, you still need a method. You need a game plan for how you go about your business. Look at all the great T20 players. You can almost have an idea of where they will score their boundaries and where they have slight weaknesses.”

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“They work their way through that. With Pant, I feel he is always on the edge. When you watch him play, you feel he can get out at any time because it is almost frantic at times. The surprising number for me is his T20 strike rate, which is around 130. How is that possible for a guy with so many shots? Maybe it is because we watch him in Test cricket playing these extravagant, exuberant innings, taking the game on. We almost feel that should just happen in T20 cricket as well,” du Plessis said.

On Pant’s ideal batting position, du Plessis said: “Looking at LSG’s 2026 auction and their strategy around who they signed, you look at that top-heavy batting line-up – Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran are the main ones alongside Pant. Pooran is maybe the only guy who can slide down.”

“But the success Marsh and Markram had at the top of the order for LSG last season is probably something I would expect them to start with again. So, maybe there is an opportunity for Pant to bat at number three. The numbers suggest that for him to be the best player he can be, number three looks good. I see him batting at number three for LSG this season, with Nicholas Pooran sliding down to number four,” he said.

On what Pant needs to do to find consistency, du Plessis said:

“Rishabh Pant’s stroke play is one that looks all over the place. There is some sort of method and game plan that goes into his head. He has a blueprint for how he wants to play Test cricket. The same thing applies in T20 cricket. He needs to figure out exactly what his game plan looks like to give himself the best chance, not to be a one out of ten or two out of ten kind of player, but to be in the 60 to 70 per cent range where he can have consistency.”

“To do that, you cannot premeditate every ball. That is too high a risk. Yes, you might hit a few sixes and play a couple of good innings. But when teams bowl wide to him, he is good enough to have something else in his armoury to hit through the off side. His game plan is not one-dimensional. He can score all around the ground. For me, it is about his first six balls. When I look at him, he is almost like a highlight player. I want him to be more of a high-impact player in terms of what he can give in his numbers,” he concluded.