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Under the captaincy of Rishabh Pant, the performance of the Indian Premier League franchise team Lucknow Super Giants is continuously declining. There is little hope for the team to reach the playoffs. In such a situation, talks have started about relieving him from the post of captaincy. Former cricketer Rohan Gavaskar has talked about relieving him of the responsibility of captain to play freely.
Rohin Gavaskar advises Lucknow Super Giants to remove Rishabh Pant from captaincy
New Delhi. When Rishabh Pant was bought by Lucknow Super Giants for a record breaking amount in the mega auction of the Indian Premier League, there was a lot of hue and cry about it. Franchise owner Sanjeev Goenka had clearly laid out his expectations for the new captain. It was even said that like Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit Sharma, they will prove to be captains who will line up the IPL trophy. Poor performance in the last season and this time too the team is almost out of the playoff race.
Rishabh Pant was made the captain of Lucknow with great fanfare. Now after one and a half seasons everything has changed. The team owner has been advised to reconsider his decision of appointing Pant, the most expensive player in IPL history, as captain. Former Indian batsmen Manoj Tiwari and Rohan Gavaskar believe that the burden of captaincy is affecting Pant’s personal performance. He believes that if the pressure of captaincy is removed from the wicketkeeper-batsman, then he can play more freely, which will also benefit the team.
Last season, under the captaincy of Pant, LSG finished seventh. The story has not changed even in IPL 2026, the team is at the bottom of the points table with just two wins in nine matches so far. Pant’s own performance with the bat has also been a matter of concern. He has scored only 204 runs in nine innings and his strike rate has been 128.30, which is below average. Gavaskar believes that LSG should appoint someone else as captain in place of Pant.
Gavaskar said on Cricbuzz, “In an interview (after Pant was made the captain), Sanjeev Goenka had said that he wants to create a legacy with Rishabh Pant. He wants him to play for 10-15 years, win trophies and make the franchise successful. Everyone expects the same. Sometimes you have to take the player out of pressure. For the next season, they may have to decide whether to keep Pant as the captain or just keep him.” Let us focus on batting, because we all know that he is an explosive batsman and has tremendous potential.”
Manoj Tiwari said that due to the pressure of captaincy, LSG Pant is not able to bat. He said, “We are losing Rishabh Pant’s batting because he is under the pressure of captaincy. He has proved himself as a batsman at the international level and in the IPL. Runs are not coming as per expectations from him. I also want that he should be relieved of the responsibility of captaincy and be used only as a batsman. This will be in the interest of the team.”
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Viplav Kumar is working with News18 since 2022. The special responsibility of ensuring that the day starts well for the readers rests on their shoulders. Coming to the morning shift, from the interesting incident that happened the previous day to the activities going on throughout the day…read more
