The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are not just losing games anymore, they are making a mess of them. The defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) was not unlucky. It was self-inflicted. You don’t have a side at 93/7 and still end up defending a total in a Super Over (that too, just 1 run) unless something has gone badly wrong on the field. Rishabh Pant’s LSG have been highly disappointing so far.
This is a team that looks confused every time the camera cuts to the dugout. Plans change ball to ball. Roles change match to match. And when the pressure hits, the decisions fall apart. Sitting at the bottom of the IPL 2026 points table, LSG have lost six of their eight games and are virtually out of the competition.
Rishabh Pant feeling captaincy pressure?
Naturally, the captain will bear the criticism and that is what’s happening. Former IPL coach Wasim Jaffer has openly suggested a change. He wants South Africa’s Aiden Markram to take charge from Pant so that the southpaw can free himself from the captaincy burden
“LSG looks completely out of place right now, it’s hard to even know what to expect from them. If I were in that dugout, the first thing I would do is make Aiden Markram the captain. I would open with Markram and Mitchell Marsh. At number three, Nicholas Pooran, then Rishabh Pant at four, and Ayush Badoni at five. At number six, Abdul Samad, and at seven, Mukul Choudhary. That would be my top seven, and I would go with this batting order,” Jaffer, a former IPL coach and commentator, said on his YouTube channel.
Then came a statement that made sense. Jaffer said that captaincy is proving to be a burden on Pant. This is exactly what we saw in IPL 2025 as well, where scored just 151 runs in first 12 innings. This year, he has won LSG just one game with the bat but apart from that, a lot has left to be desired from the INR 27 crore pick.
“I feel a player like Rishabh Pant should play purely as a player. You get the best out of him when you free him up and tell him to just go out and play and win matches on his own. Don’t burden him with captaincy. I think Aiden Markram is a better captain. He has led South Africa very successfully, he is mentally strong, very composed, and I think he can get the best out of the other players. But this doesn’t look like something that will actually happen. This is just my suggestion, but if I were there, that’s what I would do,” Jaffer added.
Rishabh Pant’s IPL captaincy record
| Player | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | W/L | %W | %L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 65 | 31 | 32 | 2 | 0.96 | 47.69 | 49.23 |
| At LSG | 22 | 8 | 13 | 1 | 0.610 | 36.36 | 59.09 |
If you want a snapshot of Pant’s captaincy this season, just watch the last five overs of that KKR game.
First, the bowling call. Digvesh Rathi gets the final over with Rinku Singh set. This is not a gamble that came off. This is a gamble that blew up instantly. Four sixes. Match turned. From controlling KKR at 93/7 to chasing 156, all in one over.
Second, the batting approach through the chase. LSG drifted. There is no other word for it. Pant and Markram played safe for too long, leaving 60-plus for the last five overs. Their partnership strike rate was just 103. In an era where teams try to chase down totals as quickly as possible, Markram and Pant took LSG behind despite batting for more than 50 deliveries. That only happens when a team is unsure of its plan. And that uncertainty has been constant this season.
Ayush Badoni is the best example. One of their few in-form batters, yet he has been pushed up and down the order all season. He has batted across three different positions already. Markram, who did well as an opener last year, came out as a finisher in one match for LSG. No fixed role. No clarity.
Then came a poor decision in the Super Over as well. The game is on the line, and Pant sends Nicholas Pooran in with Markram. Pooran is badly out of form. Everyone knows it. First ball, he is gone. LSG finish with one run. One. The match is effectively over before it begins. These are not hindsight criticisms. These are decisions that looked questionable the moment they were made.
Rishabh Pant record in IPL
| Category | Inns | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | 100/50 | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not as captain | 68 | 2079 | 128* | 35.23 | 151.97 | 1/12 | 183 | 103 |
| As captain | 63 | 1663 | 118* | 31.98 | 139.98 | 1/8 | 154 | 73 |
Pant the batter is not the problem. He never has been. He is one of the most naturally gifted players in the league. A player who can win games in 20 balls. That is exactly what Jaffer is pointing towards when he says Pant should be freed up.
His output drops when he leads. Strike rate dips. Average dips. The freedom goes. However, Pant playing just as a player at LSG isn’t likely to happen. Pant is not just another player in that XI. He is the face of the franchise. He was bought for INR 27 crore, the most expensive player in IPL’s history. With that price tag comes responsibility. You are expected to lead. To take control when things go wrong. And by all accounts, Pant wants that role. He wants to captain an IPL side.
That is why this is not a simple decision. Because right now, LSG have a captain who wants to lead, but a team that looks like it is not being led well.
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