Rishabh Pant had already decided to quit as LSG captain midway through IPL 2026 season

Rishabh Pant’s decision to resign from the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) wasn’t an abrupt one. It was believed that Lucknow had more or less made the decision for Pant. The franchise isn’t going to come out and say they sacked him, but he decided to step down. But it looks like Pant took the decision himself and has been pondering it for some time.

According to India Today, Pant had informed LSG about his desire to step down in the latter half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. The wicketkeeper batter was told to rethink his decision, with several matches left and the franchise in the Playoffs race.

But Pant seemed adamant. After the season ended on May 23, he reiterated it again, and after some discussions, LSG accepted his decision. The question is, why? The obvious answer would be his returns with the bat, 581 runs at 26.40 in 26 innings, and his record as captain, 10 wins in 28 matches.

Lack of power

Well, that’s a part but not the entire reason. Pant believed there are too many cooks in the LSG kitchen. Lucknow has head coach Justin Langer, director Tom Moody, assistant coach Lance Klusener and strategic advisor Kane Williamson. At various times in the season, Pant hinted at multiple voices in the camp and too many ideas.

Rishabh Pant has also been relinquished from his vice-captain duties for India’s Test team | Image Credit: AP Photo/Scott Heppell via Alamy

Who was he referring to? We don’t know. But it was clear that he wasn’t pleased. One has to also realise that Pant is an instinctive captain. It’s not like he doesn’t have plans but likes to make calls on the field when a situation arises. He takes those decisions and then owns up to them. We saw that when he captained Delhi Capitals.

However, at LSG, Pant didn’t have that freedom. A prime example was sending Nicholas Pooran to bat in the Super Over against Kolkata Knight Riders. Pooran had scored 82 runs in 9 matches before that and just 9 runs in that game. But he was sent to bat ahead of Himmat Singh or Ayush Badoni, and he scored a duck.

Prioritising batting & India return

Pant also wants to prioritise his batting. In the last few weeks, he has been dropped from India’s ODI team and lost the vice-captaincy of the Test side. His white-ball game has been on the decline for some years and hasn’t improved even after he returned to cricket following his car accident.

The 28-year-old wants to improve his batting and focus on returning to India’s ODI and T20I teams. But he seems far away from that right now. From Pant’s perspective, taking the burden of LSG’s captaincy with so much already on the agenda just doesn’t seem correct.

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