Identifying Rishabh Pant's leadership challenges at LSG: Sanjiv Goenka reveals, 'I saw a video where he was engaging in drama...'

Amidst the rumors swirling around Rishabh Pant potentially taking on the role of captain for the Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2025, franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka added an interesting twist to the storyline. He referred to Pant, along with three other players - Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, and Aiden Markram - as the 'leaders of the team'. Pant, who was acquired by LSG for a whopping ₹27 crore, made history at the IPL 2025 mega auction by becoming the most expensive player ever. Given that LSG was in need of a new captain following KL Rahul's departure, many believed that the talented India wicketkeeper would be the perfect fit for the position. However, Goenka's comments suggest that there may be a leadership group guiding the team instead of a single captain. This development adds an element of intrigue to the situation and leaves fans wondering who will ultimately lead the Lucknow Super Giants in the upcoming IPL season.

But while it may indeed be true, the decision is still under wraps, with Goenka maintaining suspense. His stance on LSG's captaincy reveal hasn't budged since last week, as he promises to 'announce it soon', but the mentions of Markram (bought for ₹2 crore), Marsh ( ₹3.4 crore) and Pooran (retained for ₹21 crore) are certain to add layers to the public curiosity before the big reveal.

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transform: rotate(32deg); animation: shinerMooving 3s infinite; z-index: 1; filter: blur(1px); } @keyframes shinerMooving { 0% { left: -40px; } 100% { left: 150%; } } Top 15 buys at IPL 2025 Auction Rishabh Pant ₹ 27 Cr DC LSG Total Match 111 Total Runs 3284 Highest Score 128 runs Shreyas Iyer ₹ 26.75 Cr KKR PBKS Total Match 115 Total Runs 3127 Highest Score 96 runs Venkatesh Iyer ₹ 23.75 Cr KKR KKR Total Match 50 Total Runs 1326 Highest Score 104 runs Wickets 3 Best Bowling 2/29 Arshdeep Singh ₹ 18 Cr PBKS PBKS Total Match 65 Total Runs 29 Highest Score 10 runs Wickets 76 Best Bowling 5/32 Yuzvendra Chahal ₹ 18 Cr RR PBKS Total Match 260 Total Runs 37 Highest Score 8 runs Wickets 205 Best Bowling 5/40 Jos Buttler ₹ 15.75 Cr RR GT Total Match 107 Total Runs 3582 Highest Score 124 runs KL Rahul ₹ 14 Cr LSG DC Total Match 132 Total Runs 4683 Highest Score 132 runs Trent Boult ₹ 12.50 Cr RR MI Total Match 104 Total Runs 83 Highest Score 17 runs Wickets 121 Best Bowling 4/18 Jofra Archer ₹ 12.50 Cr MI RR Total Match 35 Total Runs 195 Highest Score 27 runs Wickets 46 Best Bowling 3/15 Josh Hazlewood ₹ 12.50 Cr RCB RCB Total Match 12 Total Runs - Highest Score - Wickets 12 Best Bowling 3/24 Mohammed Siraj ₹ 12.25 Cr RCB GT Total Match 93 Total Runs 109 Highest Score 14 runs Wickets 93 Best Bowling 4/21 Mitchell Starc ₹ 11.75 Cr KKR DC Total Match 41 Total Runs 105 Highest Score 29 runs Wickets 51 Best Bowling 4/15 Phil Salt ₹ 11.50 Cr DC RCB Total Match 21 Total Runs 653 Highest Score 89 runs Ishan Kishan ₹ 11.25 Cr MI SRH Total Match 105 Total Runs 2644 Highest Score 99 runs Wickets - Best Bowling - Jitesh Sharma ₹ 11 Cr PBKS RCB Total Match 40 Total Runs 730 Highest Score 49 runs Check Full Coverage

"Our internal feeling is that our auction was excellent. Our focus was that our middle order and finishing should be extremely strong. Our No. 3 to No. 8 is very strong. Our second wish was to go with a completely Indian pace attack instead of international pace, and explosive international batters. Now we have got a combination of the two," Goenka told Aakash Chopra on his YouTube channel.

"We have four leaders in our team - Rishabh, Pooran, Markram and Mitch Marsh. So it becomes a very strong leadership pool of intellect and thought, and strategy. They are all people who can go with the mindset to win. Rishabh has the hunger and passion to win. So a good team has been built. We are happy. Overall, the balance is also okay and no team is 10 on 10."

What was it about Rishabh Pant that caught Sanjiv Goenka's eyes

Pant, always expected to be one of the top picks, lived up to the hype, but the one thing that caught Goenka's attention more than anything else was his game involvement and tactics. Goenka and Rahul's fallout is no secret, and one of the reasons behind the two drifting apart was the owner's lack of faith in his former captain's leadership skills. With Pant's theatrics having created a niche of its own, Goenka says he wanted someone with colour, ideas and the ability to make things happen.

"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," he said.

"That one thing of his appealed to me a lot. Along with that, he came back from a near-fatal injury, and he has come back to a form which is better than his original form. So that resilience and ability to fight and rise again matter a lot. Rishabh is 27. So I hope he will be with LSG for the next 10-12 years."

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