Rishabh Pant has been appointed as the new captain of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). He will replace KL Rahul. Rishabh Pant has also been the captain of Delhi Capitals.
While announcing Pant's appointment as captain, franchise owner Sanjeev Goenka said-
I see innate leadership in Pant. He is a great leader. I think he can be the best captain of IPL. People keep 'Mahi, Rohit' in the list of most successful captains of IPL. Mark my words, after 10-12 years it will be 'Mahi, Rohit and Rishabh Pant'.
After the mega auction, there were talks of making Pant the captain of Lucknow. The franchise offered Pant in the Nov-2024 Mega Auction for Rs. 27 crore (approx. US$3.21 million) was purchased. With this, Pant has become the most expensive player in IPL.
Pant has previously led the Delhi Capitals for three seasons (2021, 2022 and 2024), though the team reached the 2021 playoffs under his captaincy. He was out for the 2023 season after a car accident.
Pant will replace KL Rahul Rishabh Pant will replace KL Rahul in Lucknow Supergiants. KL Rahul led LSG for the last seasons (2022, 2023, 2024). The team made the play-offs in the first two years, but did not reach the finals. The 2024 season was much worse, with the team finishing 7th.
LSG second team in IPL for Pant LSG is Pant's second team in the IPL. Earlier he started his career in IPL in 2016 with Delhi Capitals. At that time, Daredevils (formerly known as Delhi Capitals) bought him for Rs 1.6 crore in the 2016 auction. Pant has also been the captain of Delhi Capitals. He was made captain in 2021. He stayed away from IPL in 2022 due to injury. He was also the captain of Delhi in 2023.
Before the auction, LSG retained 5 players LSG retained Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Ayush Badoni and Mohsin Khan, though none of them became captain. The team was looking for an Indian player who could replace Rahul as captain.
There was a race between LSG and SRH to buy Pant in the auction. His bid was Rs. 20.75 crores, later SRH retreated.
Image Credit: Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).