Rishabh Pant steps down as LSG captain

Pant informed the franchise of his decision on Friday, and the development was announced via a statement from LSG’s director of cricket Tom Moody.

“Rishabh approached the franchisee with this request and we have respectfully accepted it,” Moody said. “These decisions are never easy. We are grateful for everything Rishabh has brought to this dressing room as captain. Our focus now is on the collective – rebuilding and restructuring to reach the best standards.”

Later, on ESPNcricinfo’s Time Out, Moody added: “At the end of the day, Rishabh has recognised that it’s time to move on from captaincy for now and focus as the player.

“The last couple of years have been difficult for him. He hasn’t reached the heights he would’ve expected for himself. It’s the right decision – certainly the right decision for him, it’s the right decision for the franchise. Let’s hope this is the corner he turns that enables him to play the brand of cricket we recognise alongside him.

“I made the statement at the end of our last game that we needed to consider a leadership reset. And I think everyone knew that. In the last three years for the franchise, they’ve come seventh, seventh and tenth. So we need to look at things.”

As for Pant’s future at LSG, Moody said that was an “obvious question”, but one whose answer would only be possible after a full season review.

“We as a franchise recognise that the tournament’s not even finished yet,” Moody told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s going to take a long time for us to debrief, review the whole squad. [We need to see] what are we looking to do, what brand of cricket are we wanting to play, and who’s going to be playing those roles moving forward.”

Pant, 28, was the second captain at LSG after KL Rahul, who had led the team from 2022 to 2024. After being released by Delhi Capitals, Pant was bought by LSG at the IPL 2025 mega auction for INR 27 crore (USD 3.21 million approximately), making him the most expensive player in the league’s history. In his inaugural message, Pant declared he would give his “200%” to LSG and was “looking forward to have a new beginning with new energy and just have a blast out there, and have lots of fun.”

There was little joy, however for captain or team. Under Pant’s leadership, LSG won 10 and lost 18 matches, finishing seventh in IPL 2025 and tenth in 2026. His own batting form has been poor in both seasons: he scored only 269 runs at a strike rate of 133.16 in IPL 2025, and 312 runs at a strike rate of 138.05 in IPL 2026.

In Friday’s statement, Moody did not mention a timeline for naming a new LSG captain. It remains to be seen whether the franchise, which is owned by the RPSG group, will wait for the IPL auction, likely in December, to name one. LSG have several senior overseas players like Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran who are likely to be among the contenders.

Nagraj Gollapudi is news editor at ESPNcricinfo