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Former England captain Michael Vaughan has suggested that the Lucknow Super Giants should not continue with Rishabh Pant as their captain.
Pant has been criticized for making tactically weak decisions as skipper and has now led LSG to a group stage finish two seasons in a row. In fact, LSG were the first team to be eliminated from playoff contention in IPL 2026.
LSG’s poor form in IPL 2026
Right now, LSG are last on the points table with just 4 wins in 13 matches. On Tuesday, LSG lost to the Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur to mark their ninth defeat of the season.
LSG had started the season mostly fine, with two wins in their first three matches, but it all unravelled soon after. A streak of 6 losses in a row essentially confirmed that Rishabh Pant’s men would be the first ones out of playoff contention.
After that streak of six, though, LSG once again found their feet, winning two matches out of three until Vaibhav Sooryavanshi pulverized them. Now, they have just one match remaining in this tournament and basically have just next season to look forward to.
Someone else could be captain- Michael Vaughan
Speaking on Cricbizz, Michael Vaughan said that while LSG had found themselves a good core to carry into next season, they will need to sack Rishabh Pant as captain, if not release him altogether.
“I think there are a few things they have to decide on. Clearly, Justin Langer [LSG Head Coach] will be under a huge amount of pressure. I see Tom Moody [LSG Director of Cricket] in the setup; he’s kind of the overall boss of the Lucknow team. Look at the captain, the leadership just doesn’t look right from the owner to the coach to the captain. It doesn’t quite look together,” he said.
“That’s something they’re gonna have to put right. Look, they found a combination at the top of the order in [Josh] Inglis and Mitchell Marsh. You’d think that was worth carrying on with, [Nicholas] Pooran at No. 3. Do you want all of your top 3 to be overseas players? Probably not, so maybe one of those will have to miss out for next year.”
“I think they need to find a captain. And it might be Aiden Markram. But then again, you’ve got another overseas player in the top five. Most teams that have won the IPL over the history of the tournament have had more Indians in the top five, so that will be going against the trend.”
Look, a year away from now, a lot of things can happen, but clearly, I think that the bowling also needs a bit of tinkering as well. I don’t think it’s as good as some of the other teams because they’re at the bottom of the table. It’s a combination of everything: the fielding, batting, and bowling. And quite clearly, over the two months of the IPL, they haven’t been quite up to scratch,” he added.
Rishabh Pant in IPL 2026
Just like his team, Rishabh Pant, too, has not been up to the mark in IPL 2026. In 13 matches, he has just 286 runs at an average of 28.60. He has also managed just one half-century in the tournament. Rishabh Pant’s strike rate hasn’t really been up to the mark either, hovering just around 140.
Apart from the poor form, Pant has also made questionable decisions as captain, including in the batting order multiple times. LSG will play their last match of IPL 2026 against the Punjab Kings in Lucknow on May 23.
