New Delhi: Rishabh Pant has been named the captain of Lucknow Super Giants for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. The 27-year-old explosive wicketkeeper-batter was announced as the IPL side’s skipper by franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka on Monday, January 20.
Pant became the costliest player in the history of IPL after LSG shelled Rs 27 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction. Pant, who was not retained by Delhi Capitals ahead of the auction, led the Delhi-based franchise in IPL 2021, 2022, and 2024.
Pant will be the fourth player to lead the Lucknow-based franchise in the IPL. KL Rahul, Krunal Pandya, and Nicholas Pooran were the previous three captains of the franchise.
Pant has replaced Rahul as the captain of the LSG. Rahul, who was not part of the LSG retention list, was bought by DC for Rs 11 crore.
“Pant Will Be Best Captain In IPL”
LSG owner Goenka made the big announcement in the presence of Pant, who arrived in Kolkata on Monday morning. All the Indian team members are in the city for the opening T20I against England at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday. Goenka expressed his confidence in Pant’s leadership abilities and made a bold prediction about Pant’s captaincy. Goenka said that Pant will go down as the best player in the history of IPL and the best captain the tournament has ever seen.
“Rishabh Pant isn’t just going to be the best player of LSG but of IPL itself. Never seen someone with so much passion. He’s the boy next door, his connect with the players, teams and thought process is different. Conventional thought process lacks uniqueness. I see him as a leader. He will probably be the best captain IPL has seen,” Sanjiv Goenka said.
LSG and SRH were involved in a massive bidding war for Pant in the mega-auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in November. After LSG won the race to sign Pant, DC used the Right to Match (RTM) card at Rs 20.75 crore. However, LSG raised the bid to 27 crore prompting the Capitals to back out.
IPL 2025: Rishabh Pant will be the fourth player to lead the Lucknow Super Giants in the cash-rich T20 league. IPL Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
