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Cricket PlayersRishabh Pant captaincy future thrown into serious doubt as LSG hint at dramatic overhaul after disastrous IPL 2026
Under Rishabh Pant's captaincy, the franchise managed only 10 wins in 28 matches across two seasons.
There was a report about it a week ago, but now the confirmation has come straight from management. Lucknow Super Giants are all but headed towards a leadership reset after another disappointing season in the IPL under captain Rishabh Pant. Following Lucknow’s seventh-wicket defeat to Punjab Kings in their final league game at home, a strong remark came from the franchise, hinting that Pant's role will be under review with Director of Cricket Tom Moody admitting he might have struggled to handle the pressures of captaincy.
Pant had arrived at the LSG for a whopping amount of INR 27 crore following the auction in late 2024. Owner Sanjiv Goenka had immense expectations from Pant, saying that in the next decade, he sees the star wicketkeeper in the same bracket as MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma - the two most prolific skippers in IPL history. However, Pant has fallen far short of those expectations.
In 2025, Lucknow finished seventh and are all but set to end the 2026 season with the wooden spoon, after managing just four wins in 14 matches. In fact, under Pant's captaincy, the franchise managed only 10 wins in 28 matches across two seasons.
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"From a captaincy point of view, you know, he's found it challenging, obviously, and the results reflect that," Moody said told reporters at the Ekana Stadium after Lucknow crumbled to their 10th defeat in the season. "And you do have to wonder whether that is a pressure that is reflected with his performance with the bat. I know this season has been difficult for us, but we will reflect on it. We'll take time. We'll reflect on it. We'll consider all things."
This development came just 10 days after PTI reported that Pant has emerged as the biggest fall guy for the franchise’s poor run across two seasons and that Goenka has now lost patience with the batter.
The report also noted that Pant appears to be “carrying a thousand-ton burden on his shoulders,” which was even mentioned by Moody. Across the two seasons, Pant scored just 581 runs at a strike rate of 135.74.
Mody's comments come days after Pant lost India's Test vice-captaincy to KL Rahul and was dropped from the ODI squad.
"But certainly we haven't lived up to the expectation or the standard that we expect of ourselves. And certainly when it comes to the leadership of the franchise, it's certainly something that we'll be taking some very serious consideration to, you know, what it looks like in the future.
"Like every department, when you do reflect on a season, we will be making some considered decisions, but it certainly looks like that we're needing to consider a reset."
