Former India player Wasim Jaffer said that Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain Rishabh Pant’s impact is hardly noticeable amid a poor start to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 campaign. His poor form continued after being dismissed for just 1 during the five-wicket defeat to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Wednesday, April 15. Notably, Pant has scored only 29 runs in the last three innings as well.

“The top four batters have to contribute. In that area, LSG is taking a beating. The runs are not coming from Mitchell Marsh, Markram was out on an ordinary ball, and for Rishabh Pant, if you remove that one innings, his contribution is nothing. Nicholas Pooran looks completely out of form, it looks like he has not arrived in the tournament only,” Wasim Jaffer said on his YouTube channel.

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“When there are so many batting failures, how will it work? 146 was a totally below par score on this ground. So, it was quite a lacklustre performance by LSG, they have to lift themselves up, otherwise, it will be too late for them,” he further added.

On the other hand, Virat Kohli, who has been struck with illness and a niggle recently, found himself on the impact sub list for the first time in his career as well. He was not on the field during RCB’s impeccable bowling and fielding display, but opened the innings with Phil Salt as well.

“It felt that he would finish the game off for the team, and score 70-80 runs not out. Unfortunately, he got out on 49. When Virat Kohli plays well, the entire Chinnaswamy gets their money’s worth. I hope he recovers from his niggle soon because people also want to see his intensity on the field,” Wasim Jaffer concluded.