Pant unveiled as LSG captain, says he will give the franchise '200%'

Rishabh Pant has vowed to "give 200%" to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) after being officially unveiled as the franchise's captain for IPL 2025. As ESPNcricinfo had reported earlier, Pant was set to be named captain after being bought at the pre-season auction for a record INR 27 crore (USD 3.21 million approx.).

"Thank you to LSG family for showing the faith in me," Pant said, alongside team owner Sanjiv Goenka and mentor Zaheer Khan, in Kolkata on Monday. "I will give my 200% 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 out there, and have lots of fun."

Pant takes over from KL Rahul, who led the franchise for its first three seasons before going back into the auction this time around. Pant moves to LSG after a long stint with Delhi Capitals - he was with the franchise since 2016, took over its captaincy in 2021 and led all through barring the 2023 season, when he was recuperating from a serious car accident.

With LSG, he has a chance to build on the team's previous three seasons of moderate success; they made two playoffs in a row before missing out in IPL 2024.

"Yes this is a new team and a new set-up but my ideology of captaining a side doesn't change," Pant said. "But as a cricketer you are [always] trying to add to your captaincy. If you give confidence and trust in a player, he will do things you can't even imagine. That's the ideology we will try to have. We will give them trust, clear communication and lay out what role we have for them.

"One thing we will stress on is a never-say-die attitude. 'You fight till the last ball.' That's what I emphasise on. Performances will come and go, but are you fighting enough? Are you giving your 100% on the field? And that is something you can control as an individual.

"See, everyone gets tired but eventually how far are you willing to take it? Are you willing to give that extra 20-30% for the team, even though your body is not allowing? That's the kind of character we want in the team and that's the culture we are building."

Zaheer, who as captain of Delhi Daredevils in 2016, had worked with a young Pant fresh off his India Under-19 stint, said Pant is someone who has inspired a new style of play. He said that acquiring Pant and naming him captain was the first of many pillars that LSG were putting in place to create a winning franchise.

But will their crew of middle-order left-hand batters affect team balance? LSG will potentially line up with Pant, David Miller and Nicholas Pooran back-to-back. Zaheer said good batters will always find a way.

"It can be a tactical edge also," Zaheer said. "That's how we are looking at it. I haven't looked at how many left-handers I want in the team. It's fine as long as you have the balance, you have options in the squad and your bases are covered. When I'm looking at our team, it's looking like a solid unit.

"Now about creating that environment entering the season and creating the pillars of success for any team. We want to get that in place and that starts with Rishabh being captain. He's going to drive the whole unit in that way so that so that there's a 'Brand LSG' - the kind of cricket that LSG wants to play, and we will be able to deliver."

IPL 2025 is set to start on March 21 at Eden Gardens, and run till May 25. LSG is the second franchise to unveil a new captain for 2025, after Punjab Kings put Shreyas Iyer in charge.