Drop Rishabh Pant as captain, we are losing him like dough: Pundits say LSG

Former Indian cricketers Rohan Gavaskar and Manoj Tiwary said LSG should make a bold call and relieve Rishabh Pant of his captaincy duties. Both pundits feel batter Pant is taking a toll for captaining the team after they lost to MI.

Under Pant’s Captain, Lucknow have won just eight out of 23 matches and find themselves at the bottom of the points table of IPL 2026. As a batsman, the southpaw has scored just 204 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of 128.30 and an average of 25.50.

MI vs LSG: Highlights | Scorecard

Speaking to Cricbuzz, Gavaskar said that LSG must take Pant out of the firing line after the season and he should be allowed to focus purely on his batting from IPL 2027.

“Sanjiv Goenka once said in an interview that he wants Pant to create a legacy, play for LSG for the next 10-15 years and win trophies. But sometimes you have to take certain players out of the firing line. After this season, LSG have to decide if they want to keep him as captain. He should be allowed to focus only on his ability and his talent because we all know his talent.”

“When the team performs poorly, that pressure falls on the captain as well. So take him off that and let him play freely,” Gavaskar said.

‘WE’RE LOSING PANT THE BATTER’

Tiwary chimed in and said that the captain’s pressure affected Pant’s batting and played him as a clean batsman.

“I feel under the pressure of captaincy we are losing Pant the batsman – someone who has featured in international cricket and IPL in the past. He is not getting those runs this season. So take the captaincy off him and let him play purely as a batsman. That would be best for LSG,” added Tiwary.

Gavaskar and Tiwary’s comments echoed the same sentiment from Wasim Jaffer, who told LSG to replace Pant as captain and hand over responsibility to Aiden Markram.

The latest loss means Lucknow are out of the playoff race this season.

– The end

Published on:

5 May 2026 12:00 PM IST