Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka has made a reputation for not hiding his emotions, as was visible from the very animated chat with KL Rahul during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season following a loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) that made headlines. Goenka, again was spotted in a similar fashion in the ongoing IPL 2026, this time with new leader Rishabh Pant after a defeat in the season opener against Delhi Capitals (DC).
The videos of the same soon became viral on social media with fans presuming a rift between the LSG leadership. The LSG social media team responded to the accusations with a video of their own of the incident, where it was portrayed that everything was fine unlike the outside chatter.
However, Sanjiv Goenka has now decided to break his silence on the matter and has addressed it openly.
In an interview called the ‘Walk The Talk’ with Rahul Kanwal, Goenka was quoted as saying by NDTV,
“Look, with a player like Rishabh, there is never a ‘daat’ (scolding) situation. But on social media, even if Sanjiv Goenka moves his hands a certain way, it becomes breaking news. I’ve become a very convenient punching bag. If you run a headline saying ‘Sanjiv Goenka scolds his player,’ you get instant views.”
He further added, “People need to understand that one incident doesn’t define a person. We make mistakes, we learn, and we ensure we don’t repeat them. The dressing room is happy, and the environment is positive; these outside narratives aren’t actual issues.”
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The dynamic left-hander, who had struggled with the bat last season barring a century in a non-consequential final league game match, Rishabh Pant has continued facing issues in IPL 2026 as well. Across his five innings so far, Pant has registered two single-digit scores, two scores under twenty and just one fifty.
After batting at No.4 mostly last season, his century at No.3 prompted him to promote himself up the order in IPL 2026. In fact, in the opening game against Delhi, he came out to open alongside Mitchell Marsh, breaking an established set pair of Marsh and Aiden Markram. The move backfired as Pant unfortunately got run out cheaply for 7(9). Eventually, he moved down to No.3, leaving the overseas duo to open but is yet to look his best with the bat. The situation has now gotten even trickier for Pant after being hit by a Josh Hazlewood delivery, prompting him to retire hurt and skip wicketkeeping in the previous match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
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