New candidate emerges for LSG captaincy as Rishabh Pant leaves for Delhi Capitals

Lucknow Super Giants offloaded Rishabh Pant on Tuesday as he moved back to Delhi Capitals, while the franchise also acquired Kuldeep Yadav. Now LSG need to find a new captain.

Lucknow Super Giants break-up with Rishabh Pant was confirmed on Tuesday. Image: Reuters

FirstCricket Staff|Jun 23, 2026, 14:23:06 IST

Lucknow Super Giants' breakup with Rishabh Pant was confirmed on Tuesday as the Indian Premier League announced that the former captain will be returning to his former franchise, Delhi Capitals. Pant, who recently quit the captaincy, is taking a massive pay cut of Rs 12 crore to join DC from LSG.

Pant was acquired by LSG in the 2025 IPL mega auction at a record price of Rs 27 crore, but he will rejoin DC at a revised fee of Rs 15 crore, the IPL announced, while Kuldeep Yadav will join Lucknow Super Giants in a reverse trade.

Kuldeep will join LSG at his existing fee of Rs 13.50 crore.

Pant out, LSG to get new captain

Pant returns to the franchise where he spent nine seasons between 2016 and 2024, making 111 appearances – the most by any player for DC. It was at Delhi that Pant made a name for himself and also captained the side in 43 matches across four seasons from 2021 to 2024.

But he had a horrible time at LSG, securing lowly seventh and 10th-place finishes in the 2025 and 2026 seasons, respectively, after being named the captain. He scored just 581 runs in 26 innings for LSG at a poor strike rate of 136.

Rishabh Pant was sacked as captain by LSG? Report claims LSG fired skipper before possible Delhi Capitals return

Meanwhile, a source from the LSG franchise has told CricBlogger that Mitchell Marsh could be the next captain for the team. Reportedly, Australian T20 captain Mitchell Marsh is leading the race ahead of all other players.

“He is the top choice,” a LSG source told CricBlogger.

With LSG having an Australian coach in Justin Langer and an Aussie Director of Cricket in Tom Moody, Marsh as the next captain makes sense for the team.

The Sanji Goenka-ownership has in the past also shown an affinity for Australian leadership. They replaced MS Dhoni with Steve Smith as captain of Rising Pune Supergiant for the team's final season.

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