Rishabh Pant in action during IPL 2026© AFP
Lucknow Super Giants slumped to their fifth straight loss as the Rishabh Pant-led side were beaten by Kolkata Knight Riders in a thrilling IPL 2026 encounter on Sunday. Pant was the top-scorer for his side with 42 but it was not enough as KKR clinched the match in Super Over. Despite his batting performance, Pant’s captaincy came under fire once again as it was LSG’s 14th loss in the last 22 matches under Pant’s leadership. Former India batter Wasim Jaffer suggested a change in leadership for the franchise and urged the team management to appoint Aiden Markram as the new captain.
Jaffer pointed out that Pant’s batting performances have suffered due to his captaincy struggles and added that Pant should be allowed to play his natural attacking game without the added pressure of being a leader.
“I feel a player like Rishabh Pant should play purely as a player. You get the best out of him when you free him up and tell him to just go out and play and win matches on his own. Don’t burden him with captaincy. I think Aiden Markram is a better captain,” Jaffer said on YouTube.
“He has led South Africa very successfully, he is mentally strong, very composed, and I think he can get the best out of the other players. But this doesn’t look like something that will actually happen. This is just my suggestion, but if I were there, that’s what I would do,” he added.
Jaffer was also absolutely brutal when it came to analysing LSG’s performance against KKR.
“LSG looks completely out of place right now; it’s hard even to know what to expect from them. If I were in that dugout, the first thing I would do is make Aiden Markram the captain. I would open with Markram and Mitchell Marsh. At number three, Nicholas Pooran, then Rishabh Pant at four, and Ayush Badoni at five. At number six, Abdul Samad, and at seven, Mukul Choudhary. That would be my top seven, and I would go with this batting order,” Jaffer said.
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