Pant failed miserably (Photo: PTI)
LSG captain Rishabh Pant's job i.e. his captaincy may be in danger. There are many reasons behind Pant's captaincy being in danger. In IPL 2026, neither his batting is working nor any effect of captaincy is visible. They are failing to convert their words into action. The same thing happened in the match played against Mumbai Indians on May 4, where Lucknow Super Giants could not even defend the target of 229 runs. Rishabh Pant himself says how crazy LSG owner Sanjeev Goenka is about cricket. In such a situation, how long will they sit idle after seeing defeat after defeat?
It is said in cricket that here the statistics tell the whole story. The same figures are not in favor of Rishabh Pant. Rishabh Pant has been the captain of LSG for the last two seasons in IPL, but his story has been the same in both the seasons. In the clash of 10 teams under the captaincy of Rishabh Pant in IPL 2026, Lucknow Super Giants are at the bottom of the points table. He has lost 7 out of 9 matches played so far. Whereas in the last season in IPL, LSG ended its journey under the captaincy of Pant by finishing at number 7. Last year LSG lost 8 out of 14 matches.
If we talk about Rishabh Pant's batting in the two seasons with LSG, his condition is also deteriorating. Rishabh Pant has scored 204 runs in the 9 matches played so far in IPL 2026 at an average of 25.50. During this period his strike rate has been less than 130. Whereas last season the condition of batting was even worse. In IPL 2025, Pant scored 269 runs in 13 innings of 14 matches at an average of 24.45, with a strike rate of 133.16.
Rishabh Pant was bought by Lucknow Super Giants with an expensive bid of Rs 27 crore. With the hope that he will leave his mark in the role of captaincy as well as wicketkeeper batsman. But, so far it has appeared that Pant is burdened by the most expensive bid placed on him. Before the match against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2026, he also said that he will win this match for his boss Sanjiv Goenka and the fans, but could not convert that statement into action. Due to these failures of Pant, his continuation as the captain of LSG is in danger.
Rishabh Pant talks about the importance of LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka. 👍 pic.twitter.com/gy7KB4BVKZ
—Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) May 5, 2026
However, there are no indications yet of his leaving the captaincy. But, it should not be surprising if this happens in the future. After all, LSG also has a world class player like Aiden Markram who has good captaincy skills. Markram has experience of captaining South Africa in T20 league and international pitch. In such a situation, LSG can relieve Pant, a player worth Rs 27 crore, from that responsibility by handing over the captaincy to Markram.
