IPL 2025: Can Pant manage weight of LSG captaincy, record price tag?

The weight of a hefty price tag or captaincy has often proved to be the undoing of many a big name in the history of IPL. It remains to be seen whether Rishabh Pant can balance both and be an exception as the dasher was formally named as captain of Lucknow Super Giants for 2025 in Kolkata on Monday.

While the Indian team were engaged in a net session for their upcoming T20I against England at the Eden Gardens, Pant, not part of the side, had the spotlight turned towards him in another part of the city with the announcement from LSG co-owner Sanjiv Goenka. The wicketkeeper-batter, whose comeback after the near fatal road accident last year has been nothing short of a fairytale, is the highest paid cricketer in IPL history with a price tag of Rs 27 crore.

‘’Thank you to the LSG family for showing faith in me,’’ Pant said at the unveiling, which was attended by Goenka and team mentor Zaheer Khan. ‘’I will give my 200 per cent and that’s my commitment to you. I will try whatever is in my power to repay the faith you have shown. Looking forward to have a new beginning with new energy and just have a blast there and have lots of fun,’’ he added.

There is no doubting Pant’s intent, though his previous tenure as IPL captain with Delhi Capitals was more of a mixed bag. Capitals finished sixth last year, while LSG, after an impressive IPL debut in 2022 and '23, failed to qualify for the play-offs for the first time and finished seventh last season. A casualty of LSG’s performance last year was captain K.L. Rahul, who was at the receiving end of a severe tongue lashing from Goenka after a big defeat in one of the games, the episode kicking up a storm after the broadcasters caught it on camera.

‘’I think Rishabh Pant is going to finish as one of the best IPL captains ever. In 10-12 years’ time, you would hear his name associated with M.S. Dhoni and Rohit Sharma,’’ Goenka said. The honeymoon period between Pant and the LSG management has just about begun, but the pressure will be on the former to live up to expectations.

Incidentally, Pant hasn’t been in the best of form with the bat since the last T20 World Cup in the US and Caribbean. Much was riding on him in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after his stirring show Down Under in the 2020-21 series, but he only managed less than 200 runs in 10 innings. Now rested from the T20I series, he will have time to get back into the groove with the ODI series against England and then the ICC Champions Trophy to hit form before the start of the IPL.