LSG announce the obvious, make IPL's expensive player Pant their captain

Lucknow Super Giants have announced Rishabh Pant as their 'captain for the future' ahead of the upcoming IPL season.

LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka made the announcement alongside Pant during a special event on Start Sports. "We decided that (captaining Pant) the moment we won him in the auction. But we were waiting for the moment to announce it together," Goenka said.

Pant became the most expensive player in IPL history when LSG splashed Rs 27 crore on the wicketkeeper batter in the recent IPL Mega Auction in Jeddah.

Pant had captained Delhi Capitals in the previous edition, but the franchise chose not to retain him. K L Rahul had captained LSG in their first three seasons and though he managed to take them tot he playoffs in the first two seasons, the final remained elusive.

Pant played for DC since 2016 and was their captain from 2021. He was involved in a car accident in December 2022 that ruled him out for a long period.

Pant will team up with Nicholas Pooran, David Miller, Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Akash Deep, Avesh Khan and Mayank Yadav, among others at LSG. LSG have former Australian batter Justin Langer as head coach and former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan as the mentor.