Lucknow Super Giants are heading into a significant off-season review, and captain Rishabh Pant sits at the centre of it. After two underwhelming IPL campaigns under his leadership, the franchise’s director of cricket, Tom Moody, has publicly acknowledged that a leadership reset is now firmly on the table.
LSG finished the 2026 season in the bottom two of the points table, winning just four of their 14 league matches. It is one of the worst campaigns in the franchise’s history, and the pressure is now squarely on those making decisions at the top.
Tom Moody Signals Leadership Reset at LSG
Speaking to reporters after the seven-wicket loss to Punjab Kings on May 23, Moody did not hold back when asked about Pant’s captaincy.
“From a captaincy point of view, he’s found it challenging, obviously, and the results reflect that. You do have to wonder whether that is a pressure that is reflected with his performance with the bat,” Moody said.
He went further, confirming that the management will take time to reflect before making decisions.
“Certainly when it comes to the leadership of the franchise, it’s certainly something that we’ll be taking some very serious consideration to — what it looks like in the future. It certainly looks like we’re needing to consider a reset,” Moody added.
Those are not the kind of words that suggest confidence in the current setup. While Moody stopped short of directly calling for Pant’s removal, the direction of his comments left very little room for interpretation.
Pant’s Numbers Tell a Difficult Story
When LSG paid a record-breaking Rs 27 crore for Rishabh Pant ahead of IPL 2025, the expectation was clear. They were buying one of the most explosive and match-winning batters in the format — the man who scored 684 runs at a strike rate of 173.60 in 2018, and 488 runs at 162.66 in 2019.
What they have received is a considerably quieter version of that batter. Across two seasons at LSG, Pant has scored just 581 runs at a strike rate of 135.74. That is well below his career IPL strike rate of 144.18 and a long way from the attacking standard that justified his price tag.
Under his captaincy, LSG have managed only 10 wins from 28 matches across the 2025 and 2026 seasons. In 2026 alone, the team won four and lost ten, with one game going to a Super Over that they also lost.
Moody acknowledged this but was careful not to single Pant out entirely.
“We’re all responsible,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a time to point the finger at any individual. We all take accountability.”
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Pant Already Loses Ground at National Level
The scrutiny around Pant is not limited to the IPL. Just days before Moody’s comments, Pant lost the India Test vice-captaincy to KL Rahul and was dropped from the ODI squad altogether.
That kind of development at the national level naturally feeds back into conversations at franchise level. For a player bought at a record price with the expectation of leadership and runs, the current situation is difficult to defend.
LSG will now head into the auction cycle and off-season planning with some serious questions to answer — the biggest being who leads the side in 2027. Based on what Moody said after the Punjab Kings defeat, Pant keeping the captaincy looks far from certain.
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