'Scoring runs is your first job' - Faf du Plessis feels Rishabh Pant will be under most pressure in IPL 2026

Former South Africa batter Faf du Plessis has claimed that Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain Rishabh Pant comes into the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) under the most pressure to succeed, not only as a batter but also as the captain.

Pant made a big-money move to LSG during last year’s mega auction where he joined the Lucknow-based franchise for a record sum of INR 27 crore. du Plessis believes that pressure of the price tag weighed down on the wicketkeeper-batter last time, which led to a disappointing season.

"For me, Rishabh Pant is probably the player in the IPL, who is under the most pressure this season. Some guys flourish under the price tag pressure, while some don't. I think last season was a really tough one for him. The team struggled, and he also struggled with runs in the way that he batted. So, there is all that pressure coming into the season, along with the expectations of what the team is going to do,” du Plessis said on JioStar.

Du Plessis wants Pant to perform to his full potential. The LSG squad is batting-heavy and if he can contribute, then that will take pressure off the bowling.

"With a batting-heavy team, how are they going to maximise their bowling? Because there is pressure on your captain, scoring runs is your first job. So, if he is scoring runs as a captain, it takes pressure off in the first instance. But then there is a second instance, which is the team performance, overall. And last year, both of those things had big red crosses against them,” he added.

Pant managed to score 269 runs during last year’s IPL. However, a lot of it was skewed by his unbeaten 118 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) towards the end of the season. The 27-year-old has not played a professional T20 game since that outing in Lucknow, which could play a factor in his overall form during the start of the 2026 IPL.