Lucknow, 24 May (H.S.): Lucknow Super Giants Global Director of Cricket Tom Moody has indicated the possibility of major changes within the franchise following the team’s disappointing campaign in the Indian Premier League 2026 season. Moody acknowledged that the season had been extremely challenging for the franchise and said the management would undertake a detailed review before making future decisions.
LSG endured a miserable IPL 2026 campaign under the captaincy of Rishabh Pant. The team managed to win only four out of its 14 league-stage matches, suffering defeats in the remaining 10 games. Finishing at the bottom of the points table, the franchise concluded one of its poorest seasons since joining the league.
Pant himself also endured an underwhelming season, both as captain and as a batter. In 13 innings this season, he scored 312 runs at an average of 28.36 and struggled to deliver consistent match-winning performances. He was unable to make a significant contribution with the bat in LSG’s final match against Punjab Kings as well.
Speaking at the post-match press conference following the defeat to Punjab Kings, Moody said that captaincy had clearly been a difficult responsibility for Pant and that the results reflected those struggles.
“From a leadership perspective, it has certainly been challenging for Rishabh, and the results show that. One also has to consider whether the burden of captaincy has affected his batting performances,” Moody said.
“I understand this has been a very difficult season for us, but we will take time to reflect on it thoroughly. Every aspect will be reviewed carefully. It is clear that we failed to meet both our expectations and the standards we had set for ourselves,” he added.
Moody further indicated that the franchise leadership would seriously evaluate its future direction.
“When it comes to the leadership of the franchise, we will consider everything carefully moving forward. Like every department, a season review demands several difficult decisions. At the moment, it appears that we may need to think about a reset,” he said.
He also emphasized that responsibility for the disappointing season should be shared collectively rather than directed at any one individual.
“I believe all of us are accountable for this disappointing campaign. This is not the time to point fingers at a single player. We all take responsibility, and it would be unfair to blame only one department. We need to assess the entire season with calmness and clarity, but there are certainly areas that require improvement and corrective action,” Moody stated.
Rishabh Pant was signed by Lucknow Super Giants for a massive ₹27 crore during the 2024 IPL auction, after which the franchise immediately appointed him captain. However, his overall performance for the team across two seasons has remained below expectations. Pant has scored a total of 581 runs in two seasons for LSG. Under his captaincy, the franchise has won only 10 out of 28 matches while suffering defeat in 18 games.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
