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In the aftermath of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) not being able to make the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 playoffs, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are set to part ways with mentor Zaheer Khan whose contract is up for renewal. Under the leadership of most expensive IPL player, Rishabh Pant, LSG botched up too many close games and ended up finishing seventh on the points table with six wins from 14 games.
As per a report by Cricbuzz, Zaheer's contract is unlikely to be renewed. The report suggests that all is not well in the LSG camp and there are differences. Zaheer is expected to face the brunt of it rather than the head coach Justin Langer who has been with the franchise since Gautam Gambhir left.
The LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka is passionate about his franchise which has not been able to advance to the playoffs for the last two seasons. Pant and Zaheer spoke about playing a fearless brand of cricket but they failed to replicate it on the field as a team.
Pant struggles
Pant was not at his best for a better part of the IPL. It was not until the final league stage match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) that he went berserk and scored an unbeaten 118 at home. Overall, he was fifth on the list of top run-scorers for LSG in the season. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 269 runs from 13 innings at an average of 24.45. His strike rate was 133.16.
LSG pacers' horror story
LSG's fast-bowling stocks were depleted as well and could not click in unison under Zaheer's mentorship. While uncapped spinner Digvesh Rathi took 14 wickets while Ravi Bishnoi struggled, LSG pacers leaked too many runs.
Their star retention Mayank Yadav could play just two matches due to injuries. Akash Deep's return after injury was disappointing with three wickets from six games. Prince Yadav looked impressive at first but he took three wickets from six innings. Left-arm pacer Akash Singh did good when he got limited chances. Mohsin Khan's replacement, Shardul Thakur took 13 wickets from 10 games but had an economy rate of 11 runs per over. Avesh Khan took 13 wickets from as many games but he was expensive as well. Their injury replacement William O Rourke took six wickets from three games but conceded 75 runs in a single game against RCB.
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