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Now comes word from inside the camp that change could be coming soon. Leadership doubts grow louder after yet another season without playoff progress. A loss to the Punjab Kings at home seems to have tipped the balance. Comments made by team bosses subsequently carried a clear meaning between the lines.

Rishabh Pant’s role may come under review sooner than expected. What felt uncertain just days ago now sounds more like an open secret. The mood around the franchise shifted quietly but firmly. No official move has been announced, though signals point one way. Season endings often bring tough choices. This time feels different somehow. Big decisions might follow before anyone expects.

Out at Ekana Stadium by seven wickets, doubts grew louder about Pant staying on as skipper. Pressure seems to have weighed heavily, said LSG’s cricket director Tom Moody – balancing bat and captaincy wasn’t easy for the wicketkeeper.

Rishabh Pant arrived at LSG before the 2025 campaign began, picked up for an eye-watering 27 crore rupees during the big auction event. Ownership trusted him deeply; Sanjiv Goenka once said he pictured Pant stepping into shoes like Dhoni’s or Rohit’s when it came to leading India down the line. Still, what actually happened hasn’t matched those early dreams.

Tom Moody signals possible leadership change in LSG

Bottom of the table they sit, Lucknow ending IPL 2026 with only four wins from fourteen outings. Seventh place was their mark last year; this time, nowhere to climb. Under Rishabh Pant’s lead, each season blends into struggle – ten victories total across 28 attempts. Hopes flicker low after back-to-back campaigns stall early.

“From a captaincy point of view, he’s found it challenging, obviously, and the results reflect that,” Moody said after the defeat against the Punjab Kings. “You do have to wonder whether that pressure has also affected his batting performances.”

Looking back, Moody said the team will take their time reviewing how everything unfolded this year before deciding what comes next.
“We haven’t lived up to the standards we expect of ourselves,” he added.

“When it comes to the leadership of the franchise, it’s certainly something we’ll take very seriously while considering what the future looks like.”
Just days before these remarks, news stories said Rishabh Pant was being blamed more than anyone else for Lucknow’s poor run in the past two IPL seasons. Word spread that Goenka felt let down by how things had gone, especially by Pant’s failure to keep performing at a steady level.

What Pant did on his own hardly impressed. Through 2025 and into 2026, he totaled just 581 runs, striking at 135.74, nowhere near what people thought they’d get from the priciest name ever signed in IPL.

Now things have turned tough for Rishabh Pant beyond just the IPL. Losing the deputy role in Tests to KL Rahul marked a blow. Then came exclusion from the ODI team, another setback piling on.

Even with swirling backlash, Moody made clear the franchise overhaul would touch each unit, separate from leadership alone. Still, his words carried a quiet signal – big shifts might reshape LSG before IPL 27 rolls around.
“Like every department, we’ll reflect on the season and make considered decisions,” Moody concluded. “But it certainly feels like we need some kind of reset.”