As luck would have it, the Lucknow Super Giants lost to Mumbai Indians in the Wankhede stadium of Mumbai on Monday and have just about lost their chance to reach the playoffs of IPL 2026. In view of this performance, the captaincy of Rishabh Pant once again falls under close scrutiny. As Wasim Jaffer had said a couple of days earlier, it is time that Rishabh Pant be dropped from captaincy. Manoj Tiwari and Rohan Gavaskar also feel the same way.

When Rishabh Pant had first come to Lucknow in 2025, he was appointed the captain by owner Sanjiv Goenka. Rishabh Pant played 14 innings in last year's season, scoring 269 runs with an average of 24.45. This year, there has been little improvement. He has scored 204 runs in nine matches, but his strike rate is only 128.30, which is quite worrying. This time, he has only scored one half-century.

Tiwari and Gavaskar, in a conversation on Cricbuzz, said that Pant's batting has declined due to the pressure of captaincy. Gavaskar said that Sanjiv Goenka had said in an interview that he wants Pant to create a legacy, play for LSL for the next 10-15 years and win trophies. But sometimes, you have to relieve some players from pressure.

He said that after this season, LSL will have to decide whether they want to retain him as captain. He should be given the freedom to focus solely on his batting, as we all know his ability and talent. When the team's performance is poor, the pressure also falls on the captain, so free him from that pressure and let him play freely.

Tiwari also made a similar point. He said, "I think we are losing Pant as a batsman under the pressure of captaincy, a player who has previously performed brilliantly in international cricket and the IPL." He hasn't been able to score those runs this season. So relieve him of the burden of captaincy and let him play solely as a batsman. That would be best for LSG.

LSG has South Africa's T20 International captain, Aiden Markram. He has been extremely successful as a leader in the SA20. He led Sunrisers Eastern Cape to two consecutive titles in the first two seasons (2023 and 2024) and has also made significant contributions as a top-order batsman.

Former cricketer Wasim Jaffer had said that Aiden Markram is a good captain. He has captained South Africa very successfully. He is mentally strong, very calm, and can bring out the best in other players. However, it seems unlikely that will actually happen. This is just my suggestion, but if I were there, I would have done the same.