Rishabh Pant has failed to make a mark both as captain and batter this season.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) remain rooted to the bottom (10th place) of the IPL 2026 points table after failing to defend 228/5 against Mumbai Indians (MI), losing by six wickets with 8 balls to spare at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday (May 4).
This was LSG’s seventh defeat in nine outings this season, and they are now on the verge of becoming the first team to be knocked out of the playoffs race.
After their latest defeat, former India cricketers Manoj Tiwary and Rohan Gavaskar urged the franchise to relieve Rishabh Pant of captaincy duties to revive his batting form.
After joining LSG for a record sum for INR 27 crore, Pant failed to leave a mark in the 2025 season, scoring only 269 runs in 13 innings at an average of 24.45 and a strike rate of 133.17.
In the ongoing IPL so far, the southpaw has amassed 204 runs in 9 innings with a strike rate of 128.30, including one half-century.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Rohan suggested that the burden of captaincy has contributed to Pant’s decline as a batter.
“Sanjiv Goenka had 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’ve got to put certain players out of the firing line. After this season, LSG must decide whether they want to keep him as captain. He should be allowed to focus only on his batting, because we all know his capabilities and talent. When the team performs badly, that pressure also falls on the skipper. So release him from that and allow him to play freely,” Rohan said.
Tiwary echoed similar sentiments but was more straightforward, saying it would be “best” for LSG to remove him as captain.
“I feel that, under the pressure of captaincy, we are losing Pant the batter — someone who has performed in international cricket and the IPL previously. He is not getting those runs this season. So release him from the captaincy burden and let him play purely as a batter. That would be best for LSG,” Tiwary remarked.
LSG have South Africa's T20I skipper, Aiden Markram, in their ranks. He has proven his credentials as a captain in the SA20, leading Sunrisers Eastern Cape to two consecutive titles while also making significant contributions as a top-order batter.
Earlier, former India opener Wasim Jaffer had recommended the Super Giants to hand over the captaincy to Markram.
“I think Aiden Markram is a better captain. He has led South Africa very successfully; he is mentally strong, very composed, and I think he can get the best out of the other players. But this doesn’t look like something that will actually happen. This is just my suggestion, but if I were there, that’s what I would do,” Jaffer had said.