Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka made Rishabh Pant the most expensive cricketer in Indian Premier League (IPL) history after buying him for a staggering INR 27 crores during the IPL 2025 auction. However, the India wicketkeeper-batter failed to live upto the lofty price tag, failing to deliver results both as a captain and batter.
The dynamic left-hander could manage 269 runs across 14 games, his lowest-scoring season since 2017 and failed lead the side to the playoffs, as LSG finished at the bottom half of the points table at seventh. In Rishabh’s defence, the pressure to deliver was too much and the side was delpted with multiple injury concerns, especially in the pace department.
When LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka was asked on the struggles Rishabh Pant had to endure last season, he vehemently defended his captain and labelled himself as the ‘punching bag’.
Speaking to Sports Tak, Sanjiv Goenka was quoted as saying, “If a captain is deprived of his four key bowlers, what is he expected to do? We must, therefore, assess the resources he actually had at his disposal. I have complete faith in him. Sometimes, when people speculate about whether Rishabh will be retained or not, I simply look at it and laugh. Perhaps certain social media platforms are merely chasing views; Sanjiv Goenka makes for a convenient punching bag.”
Rishabh Pant to have a fit and firing pace attack for IPL 2026?
The LSG management have managed to build a good team on paper, to fill the gaps from the last season. One problem was a depleted pace battery and they now have nine pacers in the roster to choose from. While players like Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, who had injury problems last season are all looking fit, Lucknow also acquired the services of multiple other fast bowlers through trade or bought them at the auction.
Veteran pacer Mohammed Shami and young talent Arjun Tendulkar were secured through trade from Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Mumbai Indians (MI) respectively. Apart from that, LSG bought Proteas speedster Anrich Nortje and uncapped Naman Tiwari in the auction. Prince Yadav and Akash Singh are the other two fast bowlers that complete the department.
