Lucknow Super Giants head coach Justin Langer faced yet another tough set of questions at a critical press conference after his side slipped to a loss against Mumbai Indians in their IPL 2026 encounter on Monday. The defeat left LSG rooted at the bottom of the points table, managing just two victories from their first eight matches. With the franchise’s playoff hopes fading and the campaign nearing its end, the discussion naturally widened to multiple concerns inside the team—yet the spotlight remained firmly on Rishabh Pant’s captaincy and the choices that have defined his run so far.
Pant’s form has been under scrutiny, and so have the frequent changes to the batting order. In the clash versus Mumbai, LSG opened with Josh Inglis alongside Mitchell Marsh, while Nicholas Pooran was promoted to bat at number three. Pant came in at number four, but his knock lasted only 15 runs before he was dismissed. When asked to explain Pant’s output and how the team plans to get him back to his best, Langer pointed to what had worked in a recent training setting—while also acknowledging that the same momentum did not carry into the match.
Langer said, “We played a practice game here two days ago, and Rishi—I’m not sure of the exact final score—maybe 95 off 40 or 30 balls. You look at that and you think, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s Rishabh Pant at his very best.’ So he’s a very good player; we know that. We’ve seen him in Test cricket destroy teams at number five. Given that, and the way he played just two days ago after a seven-day break, we felt it might be a good option for the team.”
The coach also stressed that Pant’s decision to adjust his own batting position was not driven by strategy alone, but by a selfless intent to maximise the team’s impact. Langer highlighted how the captain’s move initially paid off in the sense that it created room for Pooran to take control.
Langer added, “He selflessly moved down the order to let Nicky P bat, whose batting was unbelievable. So yeah, Rishi’s not far off. As a captain in the IPL, or as a coach, you’ve got to keep fronting up, don’t you? That’s all you can do, and he’ll keep fronting up and hopefully help us get some wins over the next few games.”
Another theme of the press conference was the weight that comes with expectations attached to Pant’s price tag. Lucknow had secured him for a record fee of Rs 27 crore after he left Delhi Capitals, making him the most expensive player in IPL history at Rs 27 crore. Langer was asked whether that label—and the pressure it carries—has been affecting Pant’s performance. However, the coach played down the financial aspect and instead focused on the broader challenges of leading a side in high-stakes T20 cricket.
He said, “Honestly, I don’t think the money has anything to do with it; I don’t think that has anything to do with it at all. What I do think is that leadership is a tough position—you’re carrying lots of pressure, and he knows that. He’s carrying a lot of pressure for the team, and he does it, like all of us, with a smile on his face 98% of the time. The other 2% of the time, it’s tough. But he’s chipping away, he’s working hard and, as I say, he’s had a match-winning game earlier in the season. We love it when we see him smiling and playing that swashbuckling style of play, and he’s not far off.”
