End of captaincy road for ₹27 crore buy Rishabh Pant at LSG? Lucknow to ‘consider a reset’ after two unsuccessful IPLs

After two back-to-back below-par seasons in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are considering a "reset" with captain Rishabh Pant at the centre of it. Having bought Pant for ₹27 crore - costliest in IPL history - the Sanjiv Goenka-owned side won a total of just 10 matches in 28 combined game in 2025 and 2026 seasons.

While LSG finished seventh in IPL 2025 (6 wins), the Pant-led side stooped into a new low as they finished last in the points table in 2026, with just four wins in their bag. LSG lost to Punjab Kings to conclude their IPL 2026 campaign, thus giving the latter a chance a late shot at the playoffs.

Not just his leadership, Pant batting credibility also took a hit. The swashbuckling left-hander managed just 581 runs in 28 games, with just one hundred to show. In fact, Pant aggregated just 312 runs at 28.36 this season.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, LSG Director of Cricket Tom Moody hinted that the franchise are considering a change of guard before the upcoming season. “From a captaincy point of view, you know, he’s found it challenging, obviously, and the results reflect that,” Moody said.

“And you do have to wonder whether that is a pressure that is reflected with his performance with the bat. I know that this season has been a difficult season for us, but we will reflect on it, we’ll take time, we’ll reflect on it. We’ll consider all things,” added the former Australian cricketer.

“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,” added Moody, a former Sunrisers Hyderabad coach.

Were ‘too many minds’ a problem for LSG?

During IPL 2026, Pant had spoken time and again about too many inputs from the management made his job a lot more difficult. "And too many minds doesn't make it easy on the ground," Pant had said after LSG lost to Kolkata Knight Riders via Super Over on April 27 at the Ekana Stadium.

Pant's "too many minds" refers to the star-studded backroom staff at LSG, which included head coach Justin Langer, Moody, strategic advisor Kane Williamson, assistant coach Lance Klusener and bowling coach Bharat Arun.

For now, Pant will head to the Indian camp for the series against Afghanistan which starts next month. The left-hander has been removed from his role as a Test vice-captain, with KL Rahul replacing him. He is a part of the Test squad for the one-off game against Afghanistan in New Chandigarh from June 6. Pant has not been picked for ODIs.

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