new delhi, May 29
After enduring one of the most disappointing campaigns of his IPL career, Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has stepped down as Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain following the franchise’s tenth-place finish in the 2026 season. Pant, who joined LSG for a record-breaking Rs 27 crore ahead of IPL 2025 after leaving Delhi Capitals, endured a difficult two-year stint as skipper. Under his leadership, the franchise finished seventh last season before slipping to the bottom of the table this year with just four wins from 14 matches.
LSG confirmed on Friday that Pant had approached the franchise with a request to relinquish captaincy duties, which was subsequently accepted by the management.
“Rishabh approached the franchise with this request and we have respectfully accepted it. 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 Tom Moody, LSG’s global director of cricket, in a statement.
Pant’s struggles with the bat also mirrored LSG’s decline over the past two seasons. Across two years with the franchise, he scored 581 runs at a strike rate of 135.74, numbers significantly below the aggressive standards he had established earlier in his IPL career.
A franchise official told IANS that Pant had made up his mind to step down immediately after the conclusion of LSG’s campaign.
“Rishabh was very clear about leaving as LSG’s captain right after the tournament ended. From his perspective, the vision he had for the team as the captain, it just wasn’t translating into reality. Also, it was becoming too much for him to balance things as captain while his primary skillsets, especially his batting form, wasn’t at its best,” the official said.
“It’s also understood that Rishabh told the LSG coaching staff and management that it would be selfish of him to continue as captain after yet another disappointing season. Plus, he wants to prioritise his batting in the longer run, considering he is not an automatic pick in the Indian side in white-ball formats.”
Questions over Pant’s future as LSG skipper had intensified during the season itself, especially after the franchise’s inconsistent performances and his own admission that “too many minds” within the leadership group had complicated matters for him as captain.
After LSG’s final league-stage defeat to Punjab Kings, Moody had also hinted that the franchise could consider a leadership change ahead of next season. “One key thing to note is that Rishabh has high standards, and if he doesn’t touch them, either as a batter, keeper or captain, he will quickly realise it before anyone tells him. Moreover, Rishabh was clear that he did not wish to wait until the trading window opened or retention discussions for the next season commenced to speak to coaches and management on his future as LSG captain,” the official added.
“There was also this feeling within Rishabh that he let down LSG fans too as a leader, and that weighed heavily on him as well. So, ultimately, it was a mixed bag of factors behind him leaving the captaincy and subsequently, the franchise also accepted his desire to let go of the leadership armband and allow Rishabh to concentrate on his batting.”
