Pant shuffled his batting position from No. 4 to opener, and also batted lower down the order in a woeful last season. But he finally produced his best at No. 3—a 61-ball unbeaten 118 in Lucknow Super Giants’ last league match.
“Maybe there is an opportunity for Pant to bat at number three,” said du Plessis, speaking on JioStar’s ‘IPL Today Live’.
“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.
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“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 Pooran are the main ones alongside Pant,” added the former Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper.
Pant heads into the new season with significant expectations after being bought for a record Rs. 27 crore ahead of IPL 2025. However, his first stint as captain of LSG was underwhelming as the team finished seventh.
He endured an inconsistent campaign, scoring 269 runs in 13 innings at an average of 24.45 with a strike rate just over 133.
“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,” du Plessis said.
“He needs to figure out exactly what his game plan looks like to give himself the best chance.”
The IPL 2026 begins with defending champion RCB facing Sunrisers Hyderabad in the opener in Bengaluru on Saturday, while LSG starts its campaign against Delhi Capitals at home on April 1.
Du Plessis highlighted the contrast between Pant’s immense ability and his returns in T20 cricket.
“The talent that 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. But in T20 batting, you still need a method. You need a game plan for how you go about your business,” he said.
The South African pointed out that elite T20 batters operate with a clear mindset.
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“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. 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,” du Plessis observed.
Du Plessis also pointed out Pant’s low strike rate vis-a-vis his shot-making range.
“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,” he said.
He urged Pant to curb his attacking approach a bit and play according to the merit of the ball.
“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.
“Not to be a one out of 10 or two out of 10 kind of player, but to be in the 60 to 70 per cent range where he can have consistency. To do that, you can’t premeditate every ball. That is too high risk. Yes, you might hit a few sixes and play a couple of good innings,” du Plessis said.
“But when teams bowl wide to him, he is good enough to have something else in his armoury to hit through the offside. His game plan is not one-dimensional. He can score all around the ground. For me, it is about his first six balls,” he added.
Published on Mar 25, 2026
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