Rishabh Pant steps down as LSG captain

Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant has resigned. After a disastrous 2026 campaign in which they finished last in the points table, the IPL franchise announced in a post on X that they had granted Pant's request to step down from his leadership position within the organization. According to LSG Director of Cricket Tom Moody, "Rishabh approached the franchise with this request, and we have respectfully accepted it." "These decisions are never easy. We are indebted to Rishabh for everything he has contributed to this dressing room as captain. Our current focus is on the group, which means rebuilding and reorganizing to meet the highest standards. After eight seasons at Delhi Capitals, Pant earned a jaw-dropping move to LSG at a whopping INR 27 crore in the player auction ahead of IPL 2025 and was expectedly named captain. However, despite scoring 118*, he struggled with the bat and finished the season with 269 runs. His team finished seventh in that season. While the team regressed, finishing 10th with only four wins and 10 losses, his batting average increased only marginally this year to 312 runs in 13 innings. For three seasons since 2022 - their inception year - LSG were led by KL Rahul. After two playoffs finish and one at seventh spot, the two parties parted ways with the franchise looking for a reset under captain Pant. However, after a couple of underwhelming seasons, that alliance has ended. LSG have quite a few potential captains in the squad to take over from Pant. Aiden Markram leads the franchise's SA20 team - Durban Super Giants, as well as the one the Men's Hundred - Manchester Super Giants. Mitchell Marsh is currently the captain of Australia's T20I side while Nicholas Pooran has led MI New York to the Major League Cricket title twice.