Onus on Pant to prove his worth as Lucknow gear up to host Punjab

Rishabh Pant will be eager to justify the hefty price tag as Lucknow Super Giants look to open their campaign at home on a positive note when they take on an in-form Punjab Kings at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Tuesday.

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

Pant, who was bought for a whopping Rs 27 crore at the mega auction last year, hasn't had the best of starts to the season, with scores of 0 and 15 in the first two matches. However, he can take pride as a leader after his side managed to bounce back with a morale-boosting five-wicket win against Sunrisers Hyderabad after suffering a heart-breaking one-wicket loss to Delhi Capitals in the opener.

Despite Pant's dismal outings as a batter, the rest of the LSG unit had a fruitful outing against SRH with Nicholas Pooran (70 off 23) and Mitchell Marsh (52 off 31) acing the chase after Shardul Thakur's (4/34) twin strikes in the third over halted the marauding SRH batting unit. For the first time, Pant will face his former Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting, who has joined Punjab Kings this season.