Giant responsibility

kolkata: Indian cricket team wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been officially named the captain of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL). LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka announced the decision during a press conference here on Monday. Pant, who became the most expensive player in the IPL history when LSG bought him for a record-breaking Rs 27 crore last year, received his team jersey from Goenka and team mentor Zaheer Khan, the former India pacer.

Pant replaces KL Rahul, who captained LSG for their first three seasons before returning to the auction. Pant debuted in the IPL in 2016 for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) and remained with the franchise until 2024, taking over as captain in 2021.

“I would like to say a personal thank you to sir (Sanjiv Goenka, team owner). Thank you sir and the whole LSG management for showing faith in me. I will give my 200% and that’s my commitment to you. I will try whatever it’s in my power to repay this faith which you have shown. I am really excited to be part of the team. I am looking forward to a new beginning, with new energy, and just have a blast out there,” said Pant.

Welcoming Pant as the new captain, Goenka expressed optimism about the upcoming IPL season. “After we finished the first leg of three years, we started the process of rebooting and planning. Most of you have met our mentor and now we introduce you to our new captain Rishabh. We start with new aspirations, new hope and most importantly new confidence,” he said.

Asked about how he would approach his captaincy with LSG, Pant said it might be a new beginning, new franchise, new owner and new setup for him, but the ideology of captaining a side doesn’t change. “As a captain, you are always looking to improve, and we will add on a lot of things, which I feel we will discuss with the management, Zaheer bhai and our coach. We will see how we can take this forward in a better way,” he said.

Pant also mentioned that he has learnt how to care for a player from Indian captain Rohit Sharma. “I feel if you give confidence and trust to a player, he will do things for the team which you can’t even imagine. That’s the ideology we will try to have. We will give them clear communication and lay out what role we have for them,” he said, adding that they will stress on never-say-die attitude.