Pant has scored just 135 runs in 12 games at a strike rate of 100 and average of only 12.27, which pales in comparison to last year, when he scored 446 runs at a strike rate of 155.40, averaging 40.55.

Pant has just one half-century so far, a 49-ball 63 vs Chennai Super Kings in Lucknow, and that too after struggling against spinners Noor Ahmed and Ravindra Jadeja.