IPL 2026: LSG opened with Pant for left-right combination - Is it still relevant in T20s?
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "IPL 2026: LSG opened with Pant for left-right combination - Is it still relevant in T20s?")
Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill make one of the most effective left-right combos in IPL Photograph: (BCCI)
With a left-right batting combination on crease, the bowlers have to constantly adjust their line, making the task even difficult for them. Additionally, the fielders have to change position according to batter on the crease every time.
The LSG vs DC match in IPL 2026 on Wednesday (Apr 1) saw Rishabh Pant opening for LSG alongside Mitchell Marsh. Pant replaced Aiden Markram at the top, with whom Marsh had added second most partnership runs (524) in IPL 2025, and the reason was to try 'left-right' combo. The experiment prompted Ayush Badoni's promotion at number 4 instead of Nicholas Pooran to keep the combination going. LSG, however, lost the match by six wickets which brought up the question - Is left-right batting combo still works in T20s? The answer is yes and it was right strategy by LSG, but it didn't come off against DC.
Is left-right batting combination relevant in T20s?
The T20 is a batting dominated game which leaves little room of error for the bowlers. With a left-right batting combination on crease, the bowlers have to constantly adjust their line, making the task even difficult for them. Additionally, the fielders have to change position according to batter on the crease every time, making it a hard work for them to close all gaps. The captain also have to come with different strategies for two batters, keeping him/her on toes all the time. So yes, a left-right combination is still a good option even in T20s.
Which are the best left-right partnerships in IPL?
Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli from RCB are the best left-right batters in IPL, scoring 2,787 runs in 59 innings at an average of nearly 53 with 12 fifties and nine tons as well and a highest of unbeaten 204. Among the current generation, Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill from Gujarat Titans are performing exceedingly well. The duo has scored 2,095 runs in just 34 innings at an average of 63 with seven hundreds and nine fifties and a best of 210.
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Some other notable left-right partnerships are Gautam Gambhir-Robin Uthappa (1,906 runs) for KKR, Ishan Kishan-Rohit Sharma (1,868 runs) for Mumbai Indians, MS Dhoni-Ravindra Jadeja (1,708 runs) for Chennai Super Kings, and Chris Gayle-KL Rahul (1,633 runs) for PBKS & RCB combined.
