Kamal Ghorui
Mumbai: Before launching into IPL-2026, India’s ‘keeper-bat Rishabh Pant went through a few training sessions under the watchful eyes of India’s 2011 World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai last week. Pant, who leads the Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL, is working to regain form and revive his white-ball career after enduring an ordinary IPL last year, scoring 269 runs in 14 matches, with a highest score of 118 not out and a strike rate of 133.16. It marked his lowest return in the competition since his debut season in 2016. With their captain in poor form, LSG finished seventh in the standings. “Rishabh is very focused on reviving his white-ball career, which is why he sought Yuvraj‘s help ahead of IPL-2026. He underwent a few training sessions for three to four days with Yuvraj at CCI in Mumbai before leaving for LSG’s camp in Chennai,” a source tracking developments told TOI. In a video which gained significant traction on social media of their training session, the keeper-batter can be seen facing deliveries while the superstar left-hander closely watches from the umpire’s position. Pant endured a poor season with LSG in IPL 2025 Notably, the training was arguably arranged after a challenging campaign in the previous edition of the cash-rich league. Last year, Pant managed only 269 runs across the tournament. A late century helped improve the numbers, but the overall campaign remained underwhelming for a player known for his explosive batting. Pant was not a part of India’s recent T20 World Cup-winning team and is the second-choice ‘keeper-batsman in ODIs after KL Rahul. Yuvraj has been mentoring and training several young players in recent years, with India’s Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, India’s T20 opener Abhishek Sharma and Punjab Kings opener Prabhsimran Singh having found success after enjoying his guidance. Yuvraj had even trained India’s T20 World Cup hero Sanju Samson in the past. He has been mentoring Pant over the last few years. A feared batter in the red-ball format, Pant will be hoping that Yuvraj’s guidance can help him turn around his fortunes ahead of the next IPL season. Perhaps he can seek inspiration from fellow ‘keeper-batters Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan, who both made splendid comebacks to star in India’s T20 World Cup triumph recently.
