Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka added a fresh twist to their captaincy choices for the upcoming of Indian Premier League (IPL). After shelling out a whopping ₹27 crore for Rishabh Pant, the former Delhi Capitals captain was tipped to take up the same role for his new team considering the fact, the franchise parted ways with KL Rahul, who led the side for three seasons, including qualifying to the IPL playoffs twice in 2022 and 2023.
Ever since the IPL 2025 auction ended, Goenka has maintained suspense on who should be LSG’s new skipper with his ‘announce it soon’ remark. Speaking on former India cricketer Aakash Chopra’s YouTube channel, Goenka revealed his four leadership options.
“We have four leaders in our team – Rishabh, Pooran, Markram and Mitch Marsh. So it becomes a very strong leadership pool of intellect and thought, and strategy. They are all people who can go with the mindset to win. Rishabh has the hunger and passion to win. We are happy. Overall, the balance is also okay and no team is 10 on 10,” the LSG boss said in the video.
“Our internal feeling is that our auction was excellent. Our focus was that our middle order and finishing should be extremely strong. Our No. 3 to No. 8 is very strong. Our second wish was to go with a completely Indian pace attack instead of international pace, and explosive international batters. Now we have got a combination of the two,” Goenka added.
While Nicolas Pooran was retained for ₹21 crore, LSG bough the likes of Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh for ₹2 crore and ₹3.4 crore respectively, which can be termed as ‘steal deals’ considering the experience and skillset they bring on the table.
Why Sanjiv Goenka went all out for Rishabh Pant?
Goenka also revealed what made him go all the way for Pant in the auction, thus making the wicketkeeper-batter the costliest in IPL history. The 63-year-old admitted he wanted some someone with colour, ideas and a leader in himself, and Pant fits the bill perfectly.
“I saw a video of Rishabh where he did dramebaazi (acting) on the field. He slowed the momentum. I liked that attitude a lot, that you have that extra thought to change the momentum when everything was going against us by removing the pads. From that time, I had in my mind that if only Rishabh had been in my team,” he said.
“That one thing of his appealed to me a lot. Along with that, he came back from a near-fatal injury, and he has come back to a form which is better than his original form. So that resilience and ability to fight and rise again matter a lot. Rishabh is 27. So I hope he will be with LSG for the next 10-12 years,” he added.
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