If you’re finishing in the bottom half of the IPL points table consistently for the last 2-3 years, there are some serious issues with the team. Lucknow Super Giants, after the 2024 and 2025 seasons, only elevated their problems to a point of no return, as they finished last in the IPL 2026 standings.
The final nail in the coffin was their 7-wicket loss to PBKS at home, where they lost in the 18th over, while defending 197. All that, despite having one of the best pace attacks in the entire season. But in hindsight, the writing was on the wall, even before the season began. Experts identified their shortcomings, and a couple of high-profile injuries derailed their campaign even further.
To put it mildly, had the Rishabh Pant-led side made it to the playoffs… it would have been a bigger surprise; a poor finish was on the cards. Eventually, in 14 matches, they could only manage to win 4 and lost 10, with the worst NRR of all teams; which further says, that the losses weren’t even close, and were completely outdone by the oppositions.
LSG results in IPL 2026
Lucknow could never get the winning momentum that is needed in a long tournament like the IPL. Also, when you tend to lose a lot at home, the chances of making it to the next round get significantly lower. This year, at the tough Ekana wicket, they lost 5 and won only two. In fact, their overall record at home is one of the poorest in the league — having played 33, they have won only 13 battles.
| Opposition | Result | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi Capitals | Lost by 6 wickets | April 01 | Lucknow |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | Won by 5 wickets | April 05 | Hyderabad |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | Won by 3 wickets | April 09 | Kolkata |
| Gujarat Titans | Lost by 7 wickets | April 12 | Lucknow |
| Royal Challenger Bengaluru | Lost by 5 wickets | April 15 | Bengaluru |
| Punjab Kings | Lost by 54 runs | April 19 | Mullanpur |
| Rajasthan Royals | Lost by 40 runs | April 22 | Lucknow |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | KKR won Super Over | April 26 | Lucknow |
| Mumbai Indians | Lost by 6 wickets | May 04 | Mumbai |
| Royal Challenger Bengaluru | Won by 9 runs (DLS) | May 07 | Lucknow |
| Chennai Super Kings | Lost by 5 wickets | May 10 | Chennai |
| Chennai Super Kings | Won by 7 wickets | May 15 | Lucknow |
| Rajasthan Royals | Lost by 7 wickets | May 19 | Jaipur |
| Punjab Kings | Lost by 7 wickets | May 23 | Lucknow |
Top run-scorers & Top wicket-takers for LSG
| Player | Runs | Average | SR | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitchell Marsh | 563 | 43.30 | 163.18 | 1 |
| Rishabh Pant | 312 | 28.36 | 138.05 | 0 |
| Josh Inglis | 266 | 53.20 | 186.01 | 0 |
| Nicholas Pooran | 234 | 18.00 | 127.86 | 0 |
| Aiden Markram | 231 | 25.66 | 138.32 | 0 |
| Player | Wickets | Average | Economy | 4 wickets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince Yadav | 16 | 28.68 | 8.82 | 0 |
| Mohammed Shami | 12 | 38.25 | 9.00 | 0 |
| Mohsin Khan | 11 | 20.72 | 8.14 | 1 |
| M Siddharth | 6 | 24.16 | 9.66 | 0 |
| Avesh Khan | 6 | 45.50 | 11.06 | 0 |
What went right for Lucknow Super Giants?
When you finish the tournament in 10th place, there isn’t much that you have done right. Despite that, there were some individual performers who lit up the show single-handedly.
Mitchell Marsh at the top: Next year, he for sure, will be one of the retentions. He was one of those players who really gave it their all for the team. Though an all-rounder, he wasn’t in the shape to come up with some overs, but compensated that well with his 563-run season.
Josh Inglis proves worth: When Aussie keeper-batsman Inglis was bagged for 8.6 Cr, when he was to miss entire April due to his wedding, questions were raised over LSG tactics. But then, eventually when he arrived in India, and started scoring all those runs, it became clear that Lucknow invested in him for a long time.
Prince Yadav & Mohsin Khan: Prince showed tremendous consistency with the new ball, bowled with pace and as a result picked up 16 wickets. He also made it to the IND squad for AFG ODIs. So, that in itself is a big hit.
On the other hand, Mohsin improved his fitness and ended up playing 7 matches for the team. He even picked up a fifer, and troubled the batters with his bounce, line and length. Had he played more matches, he could have made India cut too.
What went wrong for LSG?
Poor spin attack: With Digvesh Rathi as the lead spinner, what was the team expecting? He was below par in almost all the matches and picked up only 5 wickets in 10 matches. The average was 79, while economy was over 10. Pant shied away from playing M Siddharth, who picked up 6 in 4 matches, and economy was only 9.66.
Injury to Wanindu Hasanranga: As a T20 leg spinner, Hasaranga has a tremendous record and the team missed him sorely. Though George was brought in, but there is hardly any comparison between the two. Shabaz Ahmed was also overlooked as a serious spin option.
Pant’s batting and captaincy: There could be a separate copy written on this topic, but the skipper failed, both with the bat, and on the field with his questionable tactics. He scored 312 runs, but at an SR of 138. That is unacceptable for a batter coming in at no. 3 or no. 4. That just increased the pressure on the batters to follow.
As far as captaincy goes, Pant was unable to get a solid opening combo. As many as 6 pairs were tried — Pant opened with Marsh, Marsh opened with Markram, Marsh opened with Arshin, Marsh opened with Inglis….. the list goes on. The skipper also relied heavily on his failing spin resource Rathi — when there were other options available. He failed to use Markram as an attacking bowling option.
Failure of Pooran: Over the last 3-4 years, Nicholas Pooran was their best batter — but this year his confidence looked deflated. He barely crossed 200 runs and the average was under 20.
The verdict
Look, there were some gaps in the squad, but on paper, their XI looked quite good. But the blame has to be taken by the skipper himself. The biggest loophole looked in the leadership department. The team looked under immense pressure, every time they took the field. They get a very lowly 3.5.
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