IPL 2026 hasn’t quite been the season for Rishabh Pant. His poor form has merely extended concerns that have lingered since 2024 in T20s, but midway through the 19th edition of the league, questions have also been raised about his captaincy. The criticism intensified as Lucknow Super Giants slumped to a sixth consecutive defeat—and seventh overall—on Monday night, losing to the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium to remain at the bottom of the table.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, former India cricketer Rohan Gavaskar revisited LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka’s lofty expectations at the start of the 2025 season, shortly after Pant’s mega-auction signing. Goenka had hoped Pant would soon be mentioned alongside MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma as one of the most successful IPL leaders. So far, Pant has failed to live up to those expectations.
Manoj Tiwary, who was part of the panel, pointed to a key detail to explain the gap in Pant’s leadership compared to Dhoni and Rohit, both five-time IPL-winning captains.
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Reflecting on the defeat to Mumbai, Tiwary noted that Prince Yadav was the only standout bowler for LSG. On an evening when most bowlers went at nearly 12 runs per over, the uncapped Indian kept things tight with an economy of eight, despite going wicketless.
Tiwary attributed that control to the consistent use of yorkers—something the other bowlers failed to execute. He stressed that such a tactic is highly effective in T20 cricket and felt Pant, as captain, should have ensured others followed suit. He even suggested Pant could have considered bringing in Arjun Tendulkar, possibly as an Impact Player, given footage of him bowling yorkers in the nets.
“Pant is also losing out on tactical moves. In the match against Mumbai, Prince Yadav was the only economical bowler, and that was because he was executing yorkers. As a captain, you should have told the other bowlers to follow that plan. I even saw videos on social media, posted by LSG, showing Arjun Tendulkar bowling yorkers in the nets. So Pant could have brought him in. This is where MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma are different as captains,” he said.
Arjun is yet to play a game for Lucknow this season, having been traded from Mumbai Indians before the start of the campaign for INR 30 lakh.
Overall, he has featured in just five IPL matches across five seasons, making his debut for Mumbai in 2023 against the Kolkata Knight Riders. He picked up his first wicket against Sunrisers Hyderabad and added two more that season, before playing just one match the following year.
With the season all but over, LSG might as well test their bench strength in the remaining five games before firming up their plans for 2027.