Rishabh Pant has been named as the captain of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for the upcoming 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), as announced by the team’s principal owner, Sanjiv Goenka, on Monday.
In the IPL mega auction held in Jeddah last year, Pant became the most expensive player when LSG acquired him for a whopping Rs 27 crore.
He will be the fourth captain in LSG’s history, following in the footsteps of KL Rahul, Nicholas Pooran, and Krunal Pandya.
LSG had a successful run in their first two seasons, making it to the playoffs in both IPL 2022 and 2023.
However, they experienced a setback in the 2024 season, finishing seventh on the points table with a poor net run rate, missing out on a playoff spot.
This will be Pant’s second stint as an IPL captain, having previously led the Delhi Capitals (DC) from 2021 to 2024, except for the 2023 season, which he missed due to injuries sustained in a car accident in December 2022.
Pant’s nine-year association with DC came to an end on October 31, just before the IPL 2025 retention deadline, with the leadership role being cited as the main reason behind his release from the franchise.
At LSG, Pant will collaborate with head coach Justin Langer, whom he met during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia, and team mentor Zaheer Khan.
He will be joined by a strong batting lineup that includes Nicholas Pooran, David Miller, Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Ayush Badoni, Aryan Juyal, Abdul Samad, and Himmat Singh.
The bowling department will feature Indian seamers Akash Deep and Avesh Khan, along with previously retained players such as Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, and Mohsin Khan, among others.