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Rishabh Pant’s association with Lucknow Super Giants has been one of the most volatile topics of discussion in IPL history. Ever since LSG paid him ₹27 crores, Pant has mostly been unable to keep that faith.
When established in 2022, Lucknow Super Giants looked like they had built a team that could give the original 8 franchises a run for their money. The ever-consistent KL Rahul was chosen to lead the side, and he took them to fourth place in their first season.
In 2023, too, LSG finished fourth after losing the eliminator. That season, KL Rahul and Krunal Pandya split leadership duties after the former was injured mid-way through the season.
In 2024, though, everything they built came a little undone. LSG missed out on a playoffs spot in 2024 because of their poor net run rate. In one of the matches, owner Sanjiv Goenka publicly lashed out at captain KL Rahul after a poor show with the bat. And just like that, LSG were looking for a new captain in 2025.
Enter Rishabh Pant. At the mega auction in 2025, LSG had increased their bid all the way up to ₹20 crores before Pant’s previous franchise, the Delhi Capitals, stepped in with the Right to Match card. The new RTM rules meant that LSG were allowed to submit one final bid that DC had to match to use the card.
Lucknow said ₹27 crores, and the Delhi Capitals were out. Later, the LSG think-tank said that ₹27 crores was the price for Rishabh Pant, especially since Shreyas Iyer had moved to Punjab Kings for ₹26.75 crore after a bidding war from DC.
Fast forward to 2026, and Rishabh Pant’s association with LSG has been unproductive at best and combustible at worst. Pant has been unable to deliver results with either the bat or as captain.
This article will explore the top five reasons the Lucknow Super Giants ought to move on from him before IPL 2027 arrives.
Top five reasons LSG should release Rishabh Pant before IPL 2027
1. ₹27 crore purse drain
INR 27 crore is not a small amount; in fact, this paycheck makes Rishabh Pant the most expensive player in IPL history. No player indeed asks for the paycheck to be thrust upon them, but the fact of the matter is that there are very few players who would justify a cheque with that many digits on it.
Across the two seasons, Pant has not delivered with either the bat or with his leadership. In 2025, he made 269 runs in 14 matches at an average of 24.45 and a strike rate of 133. And that included an innings of 118* against RCB in the last match.
In 2026, he made 251 runs in 11 matches at a slightly better average of 27.89 and a strike rate of 138.67 with just 1 fifty. His leadership decisions have also been criticised.
In IPL 2025, Pant led his team to a 7th-place finish with just 6 wins in 14 matches. In 2026, his team has just 3 wins in 11 matches and might arguably finish lower. All of this has put significant pressure on both himself and his team.
2. Poor leadership
Rishabh Pant has had a track record of making poor decisions as captain. Most infamously, he chose Tom Curran over Kagiso Rabada to bowl the final over in a playoff match in IPL 2021.
This year, he was mainly criticised for his decision to bowl Aiden Markram in the last over against CSK, over Shahbaz Ahmed. In all, he has been unable to keep a calm face, especially during his team’s six-match losing run.
Questionable changes in both the batting and bowling orders eventually left LSG a complete mess.
3. Pant – the lost T20 batter?
Ever since he debuted in the IPL all the way back in 2016, Rishabh Pant has been hailed as the future of T20 cricket with his audacious stroke-making. But that hasn’t always come to fruition.
Pant was always known for his aggressive and innovative ways, but as he took on the leadership, those ways seemed to have muddled themselves. Over the years, Pant hasn’t found the right balance of aggression and stability, and that has meant that his aggression has taken a nosedive as well.
This is well reflected in his T20 international career. Despite playing 76 matches, Pant’s career strike rate in the format has remained a modest 127. The Rishabh Pant of 2018, who made 600 runs at a strike rate of 173 in the IPL, seems to be long gone. As has the Pant who made a 32-ball century in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy that same year.
Even through 2022 and 2024, Pant seemed to be in touch with his game in the IPL, striking at over 150 in both those years, but in 2025, the pressure appeared to have got to him.
4. Confusion about his role
Rishabh Pant has been visibly confused about not just his role, but that of his teammates as well. In the first match of this year, he opened the innings, and that did not go well at all.
He then moved to No. 3 – the same position he had made his century against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2025 – but that did not help his fortunes. Pant’s inability to be clear about his role has affected the rest of the team as well.
Both Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran were forced to play in the middle order to accommodate Pant at No. 3, and neither of those batters could deliver in those positions.
That weakened LSG’s middle order significantly; in some matches, they decided to open with middle-order batter Ayush Badoni, but that has not paid dividends either.
5. There are alternatives present within the team
The big question right now is, if not Rishabh Pant, then who? Pant was specifically brought in to be captain, and if he is released, LSG might be left scrambling for options.
That is not necessarily the case. LSG have two major alternatives within their own team without needing to look outside. Both Mitchell Marsh (Australia) and Aiden Markram (South Africa) are the full-time T20I captains of their countries. Rishabh Pant has not played a T20I since 2024.
Marsh’s Australia had to suffer a group stage exit in the two T20 World Cups he captained, but his captaincy record has been alright otherwise. Marsh has also arguably been LSG’s most consistent batter across the last two seasons.
Aiden Markram has captained South Africa to a runner-up and a semi-final finish in the T20 World Cups in 2024 and 2026, respectively. Markram also led his SA20 franchise – Sunrisers Eastern Cape – to two consecutive titles (2023 and 2024).
In both tournaments, South Africa were unbeaten before suffering a knockout heartbreak. An outside option is also Nicholas Pooran. Pooran’s form with the bat has been absent in IPL 2026, but he is still among the best batters in the world in this format.
Over the last two and a half years, Pooran has won three T20 leagues as a skipper (ILT20 in 2024, MLC & CPL in 2025) even though he is retired from international cricket. All of these factors make a compelling case for the Lucknow Super Giants to part ways with Rishabh Pant.
Also Read: LSG’s massive overhaul: Full list of players likely to be released after 2026 disaster
