After another dreadful season as the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain, Rishabh Pant has stepped down. After finishing 7th in 2025 and 10th in 2026, winning just 10 matches, the wicketkeeper batter took the tough decision to step down. Throughout the season, Pant looked under pressure.
His statements before and after matches, and even cursing live on air, made him look like a broken man. His batting didn’t work, and with no wins under his belt, the pressure kept on mounting until he broke. This was perhaps what Pant and LSG needed. He can focus just on his batting, and the franchise can start afresh.
Who’ll replace Rishabh Pant as LSG captain?
However, LSG have the tough task at hand. They need to replace Pant before the IPL 2027 season. Luckily, Lucknow does have three straightforward options in the squad: Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh. Each has a case. Let’s start with Pooran. The West Indian has plenty of captaincy experience on the franchise circuit.
He leads the Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League, MI New York in the Major League Cricket and MI Emirates in the ILT20. One can’t forget that Pooran stepped in as the interim LSG captain in 2024, when KL Rahul played as an impact sub due to an injury. However, his form in the IPL 2026 season, with 234 runs at 18 and 127.86, is a concern.
Then you have Markram. The batting all-rounder leads South Africa in T20Is and Durban’s Super Giants in the SA20. He took Sunrisers Eastern Cape to consecutive titles in 2022 and 2023. He also captained the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2023 but had little success. Much like Pooran, his spot in the team is also circumspect. Markram doesn’t open for LSG anymore, with Josh Inglis taking his spot, and he hasn’t done well as a middle-order batter for Lucknow.
The third and perhaps the best option is Marsh. He was LSG’s best batter in IPL 2026, with 563 runs at 43.30 and 163.18. Yes, he hasn’t captained in the IPL yet but has ample international experience. Marsh has been Australia’s T20I captain since 2024 and even leads in ODIs in Pat Cummins‘ absence. Furthermore, he’s the only locked-in foreign player for LSG considering Markram and Pooran’s performances.
Markram & Pooran: IPL captaincy record
| Captain | Span | Matches | Won | Lost | Win% | Loss% |
| Aiden Markram | 2023 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 30.76 | 69.24 |
| Nicholas Pooran | 2024 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100 | 00.00 |
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