After the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) finished last in the IPL 2026 league rankings, Rishabh Pant resigned as captain.
Tom Moody, the director of cricket at LSG, released a statement announcing Pant's decision to the team on Friday."Rishabh approached the franchisee with this request and we have respectfully accepted it," Moody reported. "These choices are never simple. As captain, Rishabh has contributed so much to our dressing room, and for that we are thankful. We are currently concentrating on the group as a whole, rebuilding and reorganizing to meet the highest standards."

After KL Rahul, who captained the team for three seasons from 2022 to 2024, Pant, 28, was LSG's second captain. Pant became the most expensive player in the history of the league when he was purchased by LSG in the IPL 2025 mega auction for INR 27 crore (about USD 3.21 million) following his release by Delhi Capitals. Pant stated in his inaugural message that he was "looking forward to having a new beginning with new energy and just have a blast out there, and have lots of fun" and that he would donate his "200..." to LSG.

Moody stated that a leadership change would be considered as part of the season evaluation immediately following their final league game of the year versus Punjab Kings last week. "You do have to wonder whether that is a pressure that is reflected with his performance with the bat," Moody added. "I am aware that we have had a challenging season, but we will take some time to think about it. We'll take everything into account."

Moody did not specify when LSG will name Pant's replacement in the announcement. It's unclear if the RPSG group-owned team will hold off on selecting a new skipper until the IPL auction, which is expected to take place in December. Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, and Nicholas Pooran are three of LSG's senior international players who are probably going to be among the contenders.