Lucknow: While throwing tennis balls around the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium for fans on Saturday night, skipper Rishabh Pant and Co looked frustrated and dull after losing to Punjab Kings by seven wickets in their last league match of IPL 2026. The season ended on a frustrating note for them.
Finishing at the bottom of the table with just eight points and that too despite having some of the big names of world cricket was shocking for the fans as well as the team management. For sure, it’s the time to think about what went wrong, especially the choice of players picked at the auction.
After making playoffs in their first two seasons, LSG slumped to seventh in 2024 and 2025 then to the bottom of the table in 2026, with flat batting collapses, inconsistent bowling, and a captain‑in‑crisis in Rishabh Pant exposing structural cracks that simply could not be papered over.
LSG’s batting, once hyped on the back of marquee names and a power‑hitting template, has turned brittle and directionless. The top order has repeatedly fallen apart against the new ball with the likes of Rishabh Pant, Ayush Badoni, Aiden Markram and key overseas batters getting out for poor scores in several games.
Nicholas Pooran, supposed to be the finisher, had a prolonged lean run, failing to close down chases or stabilise the middle order, which has left the team leaning on a couple of consistent performers instead of a layered, firepower rich unit.
The problem has also been structural. The side has relied too heavily on a small core and has failed to build coherent partnerships. Openers have been shuffled frequently and the No 3-4-5 band has shown little stability, which means the team often arrives at the death overs with wickets in hand but no clear plan.
Once the innings lost its base momentum, the middle order has tended to choke, either through nervous stroke play or cautious rebuilding, which has repeatedly allowed opponents to pull back victories. On surfaces that were not excessively hostile, LSG still failed to cross 150 with regularity, underlining a lack of intent and adaptability.
Pant, the centrepiece of the franchise and signed for a record ₹27 crore, has emerged the biggest symbol of LSG’s 2025–‘26 decline. As a batter, his IPL 2026 season was below par and his strike‑rate dipped. His natural aggression has been curbed due to an attempt to play the anchor’s role, and his returns have been nowhere commensurate with the price tag or the expectations attached to him.
Former players. including Virender Sehwag, have openly questioned why the team’s biggest match‑winner has so often been at the heart of collapses, and why he has not been able to pull the batting out of a rut.
As a leader too, Pant’s judgement has been criticised. Questionable field placements, unclear death bowling plans and crucial decisions, including use of reviews and the timing of Impact Player moves have been called out. The pressure of being the most expensive Indian captain and the team’s main wicket‑keeper–batter appears to have weighed him down. His captaincy was reactive rather than proactive and his presence in the middle did not translate into a decisive match‑turning knock.
As far as bowling is concerned, once a solid unit capable of holding a tight line till the 15th over block, has shown lapses in intensity and planning. The attack has often conceded too many between the 7th to 10th overs or failed to defend totals in the final overs, exposing a lack of a clear strategy.
Left‑arm spin and pace combinations have been tinkered with but without a stable, go‑to core, opponents have been able to read LSG’s patterns and counter them. Mystery spinner Digvesh Rathi, a big hit last season, frustrated by taking just five wickets in 10 matches at an average of 79.40.
At the end of the season, Pant elaborated about what went wrong. “It’s a tough one, we have to bite the bullet, keep our head high, this has been a lot of learning … tough season for us for sure. I think we scored enough, it’s harder in the second innings because the batting gets easier, that’s why everyone wants to field first.
“As a team we want to look at the positives, Josh Inglis, Mitch Marsh, Prince had a terrific season, Mohsin coming back from injury … Shami bhai. Definitely a lot of positives. It’s been a long season, we promise to come back stronger next year,” he added.
LSG’s global director of cricket Tom Moody said LSG, who finished with just eight points, that they seriously needed to look at the leadership. Under Pant’s captaincy, LSG won 10 and lost 18 matches.
“From a captaincy point of view, you know he’s found it challenging and the results reflect that,” Moody said after the loss to Punjab Kings. “And you do have to wonder whether that is a pressure that is reflected with his performance with the bat. I know that this season has been difficult for us, but we will reflect on it, we’ll take time, we’ll reflect on it. We’ll consider all things.
But certainly we haven’t lived up to the expectation or standard that we expect of ourselves. When it comes to the leadership of the franchise, it’s certainly something that we’ll be giving very serious consideration to. Like every department, when you do reflect on a season, we will be making some considered decisions, but it certainly looks like that we’re needing to consider a reset.”
