The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have named wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant as their captain for the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
For the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant of the Indian cricket team has been named captain of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Pant, who has captained the Delhi Capitals in the past, was purchased by LSG for an unprecedented Rs 27 crore. Pant served as DC’s captain in 2021, 2022, and 2024 before deciding to leave the team before the upcoming season. After a bidding war between LSG and DC, Pant became the most expensive player to ever be auctioned at an IPL auction. With a record bid, LSG sealed the purchase while DC exercised their Right To Match (RTM).
“Rishabh Pant will not only be the most valuable player of the IPL, but the best player,” LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka declared on Monday.
He will now become the fourth captain of LSG in their IPL history, following Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran, and KL Rahul.
After qualifying for the IPL playoffs in 2022 and 2023, LSG missed the playoffs for the first time in 2024 due to a weak net run rate and a seventh-place finish on the points table.
After captaining the Delhi Capitals (DC), Pant will be guiding this IPL squad for the second time.Pant was captain of DC from the 2021 to 2024 IPL seasons, with the exception of 2023, when he missed the season to recuperate from a number of injuries he suffered in a car accident in December 2022.
However, DC terminated him prior to the IPL 2025 retention deadline, citing his leadership role as the primary cause of his nine-year affiliation with the team ending on October 31.
Pant’s teammates at LSG will include squad mentor Zaheer Khan and head coach Justin Langer, whom he met during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Brazil. Nicholas Pooran, David Miller, Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Ayush Badoni, Aryan Juyal, Abdul Samad, and Himmat Singh will join Pant in the batting lineup.Along with previously retained players Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, and Mohsin Khan, he will have the assistance of Indian seamers Akash Deep and Avesh Khan in the bowling department.
