Rishabh Pant is set to be named captain of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) ahead of IPL 2025. Pant became the most expensive player in the IPL at the November 2024 mega auction, bought by LSG for INR 27 crore (US$ 3.21 million approx.).
India wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul led LSG for their first three seasons (from 2022); the franchise made the playoffs in their first two years, though they failed to make the final on either occasion. The 2024 season was forgettable as they finished seventh on the table.
For Pant, this is the second franchise where he will be captain. It was captaincy which was the sticking point for Pant at Delhi Capitals (DC); he opted to head back into the auction after failed talks with DC, who wanted to retain him but were not necessarily committed to having him lead.
Ahead of the auction, LSG retained five players: Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Ayush Badoni and Mohsin Khan.
However, they were on the lookout for an Indian player who could replace Rahul as captain. Pant, along with Shreyas Iyer were on top of their list. At the auction, they initially won a fierce bidding contest with SRH to bag Pant at INR 20.75 crore and then raised that to 27 crore to stub out the right-to-match challenge from DC.
Pant, who represented DC from 2016, took over their captaincy from IPL 2021 and was in charge all through except for the 2023 season, when he was out injured after his life-threatening car crash in December 2022.
Pant will have the services of overseas batters David Miller, Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram, and Indian seamers Akash Deep and Avesh Khan, among others, in the revamped LSG squad. Pooran, Marsh, Markram and Miller were potential left-field captaincy options as well after the auction concluded.
Pant will now work closely with head coach Justin Langer, whom he interacted with on and off on the sidelines of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, and new team mentor Zaheer Khan.