With the Lucknow Super Giants’ IPL campaign coming to an end, India’s newly appointed Test vice-captain Rishabh Pant said on Tuesday that he wants to “switch off” from cricket for a few days before turning his attention to the upcoming Test tour of England. Rishabh Pant was at his destructive best in the final league match of the season, smashing 118 off 61 balls to lift LSG to 227 for three against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
However, RCB chased it down in dramatic fashion, powered by Jitesh Sharma’s blistering 85 off 33 balls and Mayank Agarwal’s 41 off just 23. The pair added an unbeaten 107 for the fifth wicket, taking Bengaluru into Qualifier 1 and ending LSG’s hopes.
“Just want to switch off for a few days, not think about cricket and then the England series is coming up-just preparing for that in a good frame of mind,” Rishabh Pant said at the presentation ceremony.
LSG’s journey in IPL 2025 – A topsy – turvy one filled with internal politics
In 2025, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) hit a new low in their IPL journey. After promising seasons in 2022 and 2023, where they reached the eliminators under Andy Flower and later under Justin Langer, the franchise seemed poised to take the next big leap. Instead, what unfolded was a messy, drama-filled campaign that ended without even a playoff appearance.
Big names like KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, Quinton de Kock, and Devdutt Padikkal were all let go. LSG went all in on Rishabh Pant, spending ₹27 crore to acquire him and hand him the captaincy. While the move made headlines, it failed to deliver results. Pant’s form nosedived, the team chemistry seemed fractured, and with one game to go, they’ve already been knocked out of the playoff race.
Reports suggest growing tensions in the dressing room, with Justin Langer and mentor Zaheer Khan at the heart of it. Sources indicate that LSG might sack Langer after their final game, a shocking but not so surprising move given the internal chaos.
A well-run team requires synergy between its top minds. Instead, LSG have been plagued with what appears to be a power struggle between head coach Justin Langer and mentor Zaheer Khan. Despite Langer’s title as head coach, insiders claim Zaheer has been calling the shots, particularly when it comes to managing the Indian players.
Multiple reports suggest the duo has been at odds throughout the season. Zaheer, well versed in managing local players, has reportedly built a stronger rapport with the Indian contingent, effectively sidelining Langer from key decisions. It’s a rare sight in franchise cricket, where the mentor seems more involved than the head coach, but it’s one that’s proven costly for LSG.
These disagreements haven’t stayed behind closed doors either. Commentators and analysts have pointed out the lack of coordination between the two, with Mohammad Kaif even noting during a live match that they barely interact, and it is Zaheer Khan who takes charge during timeouts.
While there’s been no official confirmation, the visuals speak volumes. Rishabh Pant, LSG’s marquee captain and one of the costliest players in IPL history, has looked completely off color, both as a player and a leader.
With just 151 runs in 13 matches and a solitary fifty, Rishabh Pant has failed to make any impact. What’s more disturbing, however, is his complete lack of connection with Justin Langer. From pavilion footage to post match presentations, Rishabh Pant is always seen with Zaheer Khan and owner Sanjiv Goenka, while Langer remains isolated.
In one particularly strange incident against Delhi Capitals, Pant dropped himself down to No. 7 and walked in with just two balls left, despite scoring a fifty two games prior. Footage showed an animated discussion between him and Zaheer just before the decision. Pant walked out, got a duck, and LSG lost a game they should’ve won.
Justin Langer’s resume is impressive. He led Australia to a T20 World Cup win in 2021, retained the Ashes in England, and won multiple Big Bash titles with Perth Scorchers. He’s known for backing his players persistently, believing in consistency and structure. However, at LSG, that blueprint has been distorted. Pant demoting himself, impact players being used in bizarre phases, and players like Marcus Stoinis being released before the season, none of it screams “Langer logic.”
In a crunch game, LSG brought in their impact player before the 14th over of the first innings, sidelining Rishabh Pant completely. In a game earlier this season against KKR, LSG were put on 238. Pant was never sent in to bat, but instead, Abdul Samad and David Miller were promoted ahead of the captain. It was the kind of move that raised eyebrows, especially given Langer’s typical tactical discipline. If these weren’t his decisions, it again points to Zaheer overstepping, or a complete lack of communication within the management.
Justin Langer’s coaching credentials are undeniable. He has achieved things Zaheer Khan is yet to come close to as a coach. But in this dysfunctional LSG unit, experience alone wasn’t enough. The constant ego clashes, poor communication, and lack of a unified vision tore this team apart from the inside.
Zaheer Khan may end up with the last laugh if he takes over, but that doesn’t absolve him either. His reported strong arming of decisions, dissonance with Langer, and excessive influence over the Indian players have only fueled the chaos. However LSG skipper Rishabh Pant explained the reasons for LSG’S dismal 2025 IPL season after loss to RCB.
Rishabh Pant explains the reason for LSG’s dismal tournament
Reflecting on LSG’s season, Rishabh Pant pointed to injury setbacks as a key factor in the team’s struggles.Rishabh Pant was focused on capitalising on his good start, which he hadn’t been able to do successfully in the previous matches in IPL 2025, on his way to 118 not out off 61 balls against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the last league match of the season. But, despite putting up 227, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) went on to lose the match, which Pant said was a result of them not being able to play “40 overs of good cricket”.
“Definitely, I was feeling well with each and every match”, Rishabh Pant said on the broadcast after the match.
“But sometimes, it just doesn’t come off. But today, I made sure that if I’m starting well, I should make a big one, like all the experienced players do; learning from the best always – whenever you get a start, try to make it [as] big as possible.”
Rishabh Pant has had an underwhelming season with the bat, coming into the game with just 151 runs in 12 innings. He said he made a conscious choice to hit straight, something he was unable to do earlier in the season.
“I was trying to play the field, how they were going to bowl on this wicket, so definitely that [hitting straight] was something I kept in mind,” he said.
“Just playing through the line, just looking for the gaps, kept it very simple, and played every ball with the same intensity throughout the innings.”
LSG missed the services of left-arm seamer Mohsin Khan for the entire season, while young pacer Mayank Yadav, who impressed early on, spent most of the campaign sidelined with back issues. LSG’s inexperienced bowling attack was taken down, with Will O’Rourke and Shahbaz Ahmed going for 113 runs in seven overs. Unforced errors in the field and a back-foot no-ball from Digvesh Rathi, which offered a life to Player-of-the-Match Jitesh Sharma, all added up and took away the advantage that LSG carried into the chase.
“Eventually, you have to play 40 overs of good cricket, 20 overs will definitely not save you in a T20 game, and that’s been our story,” Pant said.
“There were lot of injury concerns before the tournament, you can see that that is something that hurt us going through the season.”
LSG finished seventh on the points table with six wins in 14 games. Rishabh Pant did note positives with the ball but conceded that they let games slip.
“There have been some special bowling performances also,” he said. “Digvesh Rathi is one of them, Avesh [Khan] bowled some crucial overs. Akash Singh and Akash Deep also did. Like I said, we have been getting chances, but we wouldn’t be [weren’t] able to maintain it for a longer period of time and that is just costing us the match.” he concluded
LSG’s 2025 IPL campaign will be remembered as a season of missed potential, locker room politics, and an imploding leadership setup. Until the franchise decides who truly runs the show, coach or mentor, the results will continue to disappoint the fans in IPL 2026 too.
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