Rishabh Pant moved to LSG, while KL Rahul was bought by DC in the IPL 2025 auction.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka reacted to the viral meme featuring KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant after his franchise broke the bank to acquire the services of Pant in the recent IPL 2025 mega auction in Saudi Arabia.
LSG spent Rs 27 crore on Pant, making him the most expensive acquirer in IPL history, topping PBKS' bid of Rs 26.75 crore earlier in the day for Shreyas Iyer.
Pant is expected to take over as LSG's captain from India teammate KL Rahul, who has parted ways with the side after three years. LSG did not keep Rahul as the franchise that failed to qualify for the playoffs last season.
This was due to notable strain between Goenka and Rahul, especially when the LSG owner publicly berated the captain on the field after SRH thrashed the team in a match in IPL 2024.
After the IPL auction, a meme went viral where Rahul seemingly told Pant that Goenka could be a tough (toxic) boss.
"Dekh Bhai, company achi hai, pay acha hai, par boss bahot toxic hai (Look, brother, the company is good, the reputation is good, but the boss is very toxic)," the meme read.
During an interaction on Times Now, Goenka said while he didn't come across the meme, the LSG owner admitted that he can be a tough boss when needed.
"Maine meme nahi dekha hai but itna keh sakta hoon ki boss loving bhi hai, caring bhi aur tough bhi. Jab love ki zarurat hoti hai to love deta hai. Jab caring ki zarurat hoti hai to caring bhi deta hain. Aur jab daant ki zarurat hoti hai to daant bhi deta hai (I haven't seen the meme but I can re-affirm that the boss is loving, caring, and tough as well. When you need love, he gives you love. When you need care, he gives you care. Similarly, when you need some scolding, he will scold you too)," Goenka said during an interaction on Times Now.
Apart from Rishabh Pant, Nicholas Pooran is also in line to captain LSG after he was retained by the team for INR 21 Crores.
Sanjiv Goenka also spoke about splurging so much money on Rishabh Pant in the IPL 2025 mega auction. He said that the team needed someone to be the face of the franchise and Goenka sounds confident that Pant could fill those shoes.
"This was not about one individual player. It was not about egos. Did we want to have the most expensive player? No. At the end of the day, this does not mean very much to the franchise," Goenka said to Cricbuzz.
"It is about somebody who brings dynamism, a never-say-die attitude. The very fact that he recovered from a near-fatal accident and came back to top form shows his resilience and determination. That is the kind of attitude we want. We want people who have an appetite to win and have a track record of winning," added Goenka.
As for LSG, Pant will likely be captain, although Goenka remained tight-lipped about the team's leadership.
"Bataunga, bataunga, very soon. (I’ll let you know). Let the auction get over and we will tell you. Will inform you all very soon," Goenka had said on Sunday.