 "Rishabh Pant left Delhi Capitals in IPL as they did not offer him captaincy. Image: PTI")
After losing captaincy at Delhi Capitals (DC) and being released from the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Rishabh Pant is set to become the captain of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) ahead of IPL 2025, ESPNCricinfo reported. Pant was bought by LSG for a record Rs 27 crore at the IPL Auction 2025, making him the most expensive player in the league’s history .
Pant will be replacing KL Rahul as LSG captain who is now part of the Delhi franchise after joining them for Rs 14 crore. LSG under Rahul’s captaincy reached the playoffs in their first two seasons – 2022 and 2023, However, they finished seventh in 2024.
Pant gets desired captaincy role at LSG
Pant will be happy with the decision as it was the lack of a captaincy role that forced him out of Delhi Capitals.
At LSG, he will have a balanced squad to lead. The franchise retained Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Ayush Badoni and Mohsin Khan before the auction. At the auction, they also brought in some exciting names including David Miller, Avesh Khan, Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad and Akash Deep.
It’s amply clear that LSG have a lot of firepower with players like Pant, Pooran, Miller, Markram and Samad being part of the franchise, but they lack experienced IPL pacers. Their pacer department will be led by Mayank, Mohsin, Avesh and Akash Deep.
Pant, who had been with DC since 2016, took over as captain in IPL 2021 and led the team consistently, except for the 2023 season when he was sidelined due to injuries from a life-threatening car crash in December 2022.
LSG predicted playing XI from Firstpost
Nicholas Pooran (Overseas), Aiden Markram (Overseas), Rishabh Pant (C & WK), Mitchell Marsh (Overseas), David Miller (Overseas), Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Moshin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan
Impact player: Ayush Badoni / Arshin Kulkarni