Overview
- Rishabh Pant asked to be relieved of captaincy and Lucknow Super Giants accepted the request on Friday, May 29, 2026, saying the club will focus on rebuilding and restructuring.
- Pant was signed for a record ₹27 crore before the 2025 season and captained LSG for 28 matches across 2025–26, winning just 10 games while the team finished seventh in 2025 and bottom in 2026.
- His batting for LSG across the two seasons totaled 581 runs, with 269 in 2025 and 312 in 2026, figures that reporters and former players cited as falling well below expectations for a top‑priced signing.
- LSG must now choose between retaining Pant as a specialist wicketkeeper‑batter, negotiating a trade, or releasing him to the auction; former players have urged release because his high salary could deter trade partners and free purse money.
- Franchise officials and pundits are discussing internal candidates such as Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran for the captaincy, and the off‑season decision will be shaped by IPL trading, retention and auction rules.