The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) haven't played to their potential in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season, and skipper Rishabh Pant was the first to admit this during the toss for the match against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday. The franchise, which has one of the most enviable pace attacks in the competition, is languishing at the bottom of the standings with just two wins in eight matches. The Pant-led side needs to win all of its remaining fixtures to have any chance of qualifying for the playoffs.
Lucknow Super Giants' owner Sanjiv Goenka is one of the most passionate individuals going around, and he's always there at the venues during the team's IPL matches. Taking the field after one week, Pant said the franchise's poor performance has really affected Goenka, who is truly passionate about the game and his team.
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Speaking during the toss, Pant also said that the team wants to do everything right from now on and deliver consistent results for the owner and the fans of the franchise.
“It's been a tough season for us, and there is no running away from that, but one person for us who has had the most difficult time is our owner, Mr Goenka; he's one of those guys. Everyone knows how passionate he is about cricket and about his team,” Pant said at the toss.
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{{/usCountry}}“It's been a tough season for us, and there is no running away from that, but one person for us who has had the most difficult time is our owner, Mr Goenka; he's one of those guys. Everyone knows how passionate he is about cricket and about his team,” Pant said at the toss.
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{{/usCountry}}“But at the same time, we let down our fans. The only promise from this break is that we're gonna give our 200%, try to bring that happiness back, and hopefully we can do it for our owner and the fans for sure,” he added.
‘A lot of reflection’
LSG are taking the field after one week, and Pant was candid enough to admit that the players and the support did plenty of reflection after the Super Over loss against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Ekana.
“A lot of reflection, what we can do and what we can do as a team and as an individual,” said Pant.
Pant has himself had a poor IPL 2026 season for LSG, scoring just 189 runs in eight matches, and this is the second year in a row that the left-hander has failed to step up for the LSG. Before the IPL 2025 season, Pant became the most expensive player in the tournament's history after being picked by LSG for INR 27 crore.
For the match against the Mumbai Indians, LSG made two changes, and Josh Inglis got a chance in the playing XI in the place of George Linde.