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Rishabh Pant, the left-handed batting maestro, was picked for a whopping cost of INR 27 crores ahead of the IPL 2025 season. Being bought for a whopping cost, he was also handed the captaincy of the Lucknow Super Giants team.
The Lucknow Super Giants have struggled to qualify for the playoffs since Rishabh Pant's inclusion in the side. Under his captaincy, they have failed to qualify after finishing mostly on the lower side of the points table.
Rishabh Pant’s captaincy era ends for LSG
Pant began his captaincy in 2025 with the Lucknow Super Giants. He has not only struggled to keep up with his batting form but has also struggled to keep pace with his run-scoring.
Pant has amassed 500+ runs in over 25 innings in the last two seasons and has averaged below 25 in the seasons, while his scoring rate has also dipped. Pant, after his team's last-position finish in 2026, has asked to be relieved from captaincy duties.
Tom Moody, the director of cricket at LSG, said that Rishabh Pant had approached the management for handing over the captaincy, and the management had accepted his request proposition respectfully.
"These decisions are never easy. We are grateful for everything Rishabh has brought to this dressing room as captain. Our focus now is on the collective—rebuilding and restructuring to reach the best standards," said Moody.
Mitchell Marsh to Aiden Markram: Three players who could take over as LSG's captain
After Rishabh Pant has stepped down from captaincy, the LSG management will have to consider someone for the role. With only a mini-auction coming in ahead of the 2027 season, they are not likely to make a massive appointment.
On the LSG side lie two of the finest white-ball captains, Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram. Marsh leads the Aussies in limited-overs cricket and has had two promising seasons with the bat ending as LSG's highest wicket-taker.
Aiden Markram has been one of the greatest ever captains in the shortest format of the game for South Africa. The Super Giants might also look for youngsters like Ayush Badoni, as unconventional choices of skippers have helped franchises like RCB to win their maiden title.
Is LSG a captaincy dead spot for IPL captains?
The Lucknow Super Giants made their debut in 2022 and have had contrasting fortunes when compared to the other debutants, the Gujarat Titans. LSG appointed KL Rahul as their skipper in 2022, and he has led them for three seasons since then.
KL Rahul led them to two successive IPL playoffs; however, they could not win a single knockout game in IPL history. After a seventh-position finish, they parted ways with Rahul and appointed Rishabh Pant as their skipper.
This ended Rahul's captaincy stint in the IPL. Pant has had two forgettable seasons as the skipper of the Lucknow Super Giants, and now stepping down might act as a captaincy killer in his career as well. Hence, the idea suggests that LSG has been a captaincy dead spot for even the finest of players in the role.
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