Rishabh Pant, Sanjiv Goenka Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka has said that making the playoffs is not enough and that the team needs to win the title to earn “respect”.Goenka said the franchise is still forming its identity and that success in the league is measured by trophies rather than consistency itself.“I think the real identity is still evolving. Until you win, you don’t get the same level of respect or affection from any sports team that comes with lifting a trophy. Yes, we’ve made the playoffs twice, but obviously that’s not enough. You win some, you lose some, but we have to win our first trophy,” Goenka said in an interview to JioStar.
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RCB’s big changes ahead of IPL: New rules, tribute and squad update He also pointed to the positives from the IPL 2025 season where the team won four of the first six matches despite injuries to key bowlers. Goenka highlighted decisions such as the opening support from Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh that both delivered and the arrival of Digvesh Rathi with the ball.“On the positive side, we won four of the first six matches despite most of our bowlers being injured. There were some gutsy moves, Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh opened, which is not their usual position, and it turned out to be the best IPL season for both of them. Digvesh Rathi came in as a complete rookie and did well for us. But we realized that we lack a home bowling hall. Indian bowling unit this time we are happy with what we have,” he added.Goenka said that the current squad has the required balance and we are now focused on delivering as a group rather than relying on individual performances.“You can always improve, aspire to better performances, there’s no end to improvement. But at the end of the day, this is a team that has what it takes. Now it’s about coming together and performing as a whole, rather than as individuals. Last year there were too many individuals performing. This year we want to perform as a team,” he said.Rishabh Pant-led Lucknow Super Giants will begin their IPL 2026 campaign against Delhi Capitals on April 1. They will then face Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 5, Kolkata Knight Riders on April 9 and Gujarat Titans on April 12 in the first phase of the tournament.The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the schedule for the first phase of the season, which will run from March 28 to April 12. Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play their opening match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
