Rishabh Pant will be appointed as the new captain of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. While an official announcement from the team is yet to be made, a report by ESPNcricinfo has confirmed that the 27-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman will assume the leadership role.

The Super Giants are in need of a new captain after opting not to retain KL Rahul ahead of the IPL 2024 mega auction. KL Rahul led the team for the first three seasons (2022-2024) and led the team to the playoffs in the first two years. However, the performance in the 2024 season was disappointing, with LSG ultimately ranked seventh.

Rishabh Pant becomes most expensive player in IPL history

Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in the history of IPL at auction. He was bought by Super Giants (LSG) for Rs 27 crore. LSG emerged victorious in a fierce bidding war with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). However, Delhi Capitals (DC) used their match rights card, forcing LSG to increase their offer to Rs 27 crore.

The wicketkeeper-batsman will lead his second IPL team as captain. If confirmed, he will become Lucknow’s fourth captain after KL Rahul, Krunal Pandya and Nicholas Pooran. Pant led Delhi Capitals but was not retained by the team, prompting him to join the auction.

The left-handed batsman played 111 games for Delhi Capitals from 2016 to 2024 and scored 3,284 runs with a strike rate of 148.93. He is the franchise’s all-time leading run scorer. Rishabh Pant led DC in three seasons with 23 wins and 19 losses in 43 games, with a winning percentage of 53.48.

RPSG Group is expected to make an announcement on Monday

LSG’s owner RPSG Group is expected to make the announcement at a press conference in Kolkata on Monday. According to IANS reports, LSG’s new captain will be announced, or the team’s new jersey will be announced. Some players from the team may also attend the event.

According to the report, “Some team officials interviewed by IANS said that either or both of these two things could happen at Monday’s press conference: announcing a new LSG captain or unveiling the team’s new jersey, given the It is likely that some of the team’s players will be in attendance.”

Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram join the battle for captaincy

Ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction, Lucknow Supergiants have retained five players: Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Ayush Badoni and Mo Xin Khan. Nicholas Pooran was initially the favorite to captain LSG. Ahead of the mega auction, LSG hired Pooran for Rs 21 crore.

Apart from Pant and Pooran, Mitchell Marsh (Australia T20I captain) and Aiden Markram (South Africa T20I captain) are also vying for the captaincy. Former Australia batsman Justin Langer has been appointed as the head coach, while Zaheer Khan will serve as the mentor for the upcoming IPL 2025 season.

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