Every season in the Indian Premier League, franchises acquire new players to fill the skill gaps required while keeping their core intact. As the season progresses, squad rotations become part and parcel of getting the best out of their assets. However, constant changes in every match, especially when a working formula already exists, can push a team back to square one and raise questions about the side’s foundation, as seen in Lucknow Super Giants’ case in 2026.
The Rishabh Pant-led side entered the tournament as one of the most experienced batting units on paper, boasting explosive overseas T20 batters such as Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Josh Inglis, and Nicholas Pooran. Despite such a star-studded lineup, the batting unit has repeatedly let the team down, failing to complement the extraordinary bowling efforts throughout the tournament due to constant rotations and the absence of fixed roles for these seasoned campaigners.
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Such mismanagement has continuously raised questions over Pant’s leadership, with the side currently sitting at the bottom of the table with just two wins in nine matches so far.
Ahead of LSG’s season decider against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, former Indian cricketer and expert commentator Aakash Chopra pointed out his preferred batting combinations at the top, which have already proven to be a massive success for them in the past, while adjusting positions for new additions down the order based on their experience. Chopra further highlighted that LSG are standing at such a stage in their season where it is a “when you have nothing to lose, you have the entire world to gain” scenario, and they should make the best use of it, not just to get something out of the current campaign, but also set a foundation for next season by assessing what went wrong this year.
“If Lucknow lose this game, their tournament will end, which is not a good thing. As it’s said, when you have nothing to lose, you have the entire world to gain. They have almost reached that stage. What can they do? Don’t make Inglis open. Make Markram open. He is an opener only. Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram are your two openers. Allow them to open,” Chopra said in a video shared on his YouTube channel.
Chopra’s remarks hold weight, as Markram’s top performances in his career have indeed come as an opener, whether for LSG or his national side, South Africa. He amassed 445 runs, including 5 half-centuries, in his debut season for LSG after being acquired for INR 2 crore ahead of the 2025 season. He went on to create a standout opening pair with Marsh, together adding a solid 574 runs in just 12 innings, including their 115-run opening stand against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2025. Both players’ performances have taken a substantial hit this season due to extensive rotation in the opening slot, with Pant and Inglis also tried there. Chopra further stressed to fit Inglis down the order, keeping his abilities as a wicketkeeper-batter in mind and not just as an opener, while allowing the Markram-Marsh duo to continue setting the foundation for the middle order to capitalise on.
Chopra further added to keep Pooran at NO.3, a position in which he has been so dominant in the past but has looked sub-par so far due to being pushed further down the order from his natural position. He returned to No. 3 with a blistering 63 off just 21 balls against the Mumbai Indians in LSG’s previous outing, showcasing the impact of batting in his preferred role. With the middle-order base led by Pooran, Chopra analysed that Pant can come in at No.4 and use his natural hitting abilities rather than acting as an anchor, with Inglis at No.5, while finishers like Mukul Choudhary and Himmat Singh can bat at No.6 and No.7 to get the best out of the batting unit against one of the strongest bowling sides in RCB.
“Keep Nicholas Pooran at No. 3 because he is only doing well. He has come into form now. So keep him at No. 3. Keep Rishabh Pant at No. 4. Please bring Josh Inglis at No. 5. For No. 6 and No. 7, write Mukul Choudhary’s name and play Himmat Singh, as he scored runs in the previous match. This is your top seven. Do whatever you like at No. 8, but do not mess with this batting order,” Chopra concluded.