LSG owner and team management were desperate to get Rishabh Pant at any cost because of his superior skill sets.
Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) during the IPL 2025 auction. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) acquired him for a whopping INR 27 crores, and even though Delhi Capitals (DC) used the Right To Match (RTM) card, that wasn’t enough to get him back.
LSG owner and team management were desperate to get him at any cost because of his superior skill sets. On Aakash Chopra’s YouTube channel, Sanjiv Goenka revealed the reason behind going hard after Pant, recalling a video he saw online.
“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. That one thing of his appealed to me a lot.”
Goenka recalled the T20 World Cup 2024 final incident when Pant faked an injury to break South Africa’s momentum. That move eventually worked for the Indian team as the game shifted in their favour, and they won the match.
Another reason to get Rishabh Pant could be his credentials as a captain, for Rishabh Pant has captained an IPL franchise and India before. He knows how to take the team forward in the competition and will be a captaincy option for the Super Giants.
LSG have four leadership candidates in their squad – Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant, Aiden Markram, and Mitchell Marsh. All these players have led their national teams or franchises before.
Hence, LSG will be in a dilemma about whom to choose KL Rahul’s successor, but the logical decision will be to select between Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran. Aiden has yet to settle his spot in an IPL XI due to his inconsistent performances, while Marsh is injury-prone and can crumble anytime.
If they choose Rishabh as their next captain, LSG won’t have to use an overseas spot on the captaincy slot. It will eventually be between Pant and Pooran, but whoever becomes the captain, Pant will remain in the leadership group.
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