Rishabh Pant will replace KL Rahul as LSG captain |Courtesy- BCCI/IPL
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Rishabh Pant will lead LSG in IPL 2025
- Pant was purchased for Rs. 27 crore
- KL Rahul joined Delhi Capitals
Rishabh Pant, the Indian Premier League's (IPL) highest-paid player in history, will also be the captain of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for the 2025 season, franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka announced in an event in Kolkata on Monday (January 20), ending speculation over the leadership role.
After KL Rahul and the Lucknow-based franchise parted ways ahead of the 2025 mega auction, the RPSG group-owned franchise was in search of a new captain. There were suggestions that Nicholas Pooran could be handed the leadership role following his success in the leadership role in other leagues. The West Indies star was retained for a whopping amount of Rs. 21 crore by LSG. However, their big splash on Pant at the auction in Jeddah last year changed the equation.
Rishabh Pant's Record As IPL Captain
This will mark Pant's fourth consecutive season leading an IPL team after being named Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper in the 2021 season. He led them till the 2024 campaign before the shock decision of the franchise and players to part ways with each other before the 2025 season. David Warner had led the Capitals in 2023 when Pant missed the season following injuries sustained in a car accident.
Pant has the capitals in 43 matches and won 24 while losing 19. In his captaincy, they topped the table in the 2021 season but failed to make the final after losing the first qualifier to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the elimination to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). They missed out on the playoffs in 2022 by two points after finishing fifth. In 2024, they failed to reach the second round on Net Run Rate (RR) and secured a sixth-place captain.
Pant will become the second full-time captain of LSG after Rahul, who was named captain post their inception in 2022. However, Krunal Pandya led the franchise in six matches in 2023 after an injury to the Indian star. Pooran led the team in one match last season after Rahul decided to play as an impact player.
While Rahul has joined the Capitals, it remains to be seen if there is a straight captaincy swap between the two teams with Axar Patel emerging as a strong contender to lead the Delhi-based outfit.
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