LSG IPL 2026 autopsy: How Rishabh Pant’s woes and Indian core turned disastrous in the making | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: Since entering the fray in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have always shown promise heading into the new campaign.But as a campaign would grow old, that said promise would evaporate in the thin air. And the 2026 season offered no exception.Last week, the final blow to a decaying season landed at home in Lucknow, where Shreyas Iyer’s brutal, unbeaten maiden IPL century powered the Punjab Kings to a crushing 7-wicket victory.Chasing 197, PBKS crossed the line with two full overs to spare. For the Lucknow Super Giants, Match 68 wasn’t just another loss.Rather, it was a microscopic reflection of their entire year, flashing massive potential early, only to see the bowling unit totally unravel under pressure.

The final standings

When the dust settled on the 2026 IPL league stage, the Lucknow Super Giants found themselves buried at the very bottom of the standings.It was an unmitigated disaster for a franchise built on high-profile expectations.

IPL 2026 Points Table

Q = Qualified for playoffs | E = Eliminated

Main reasons for missing the playoffs

Missing Pieces and injury disruptionWanindu Hasaranga’s void: Director of Cricket Tom Moody openly admitted that losing Hasaranga before the season completely disrupted the team’s structural blueprint. He was supposed to provide “mystery spin” in the middle overs and vital lower-order depth at number eight. Without him, the middle overs constantly leaked runs.Lack of bowling depth: Apart from Prince Yadav, who garnered 16 wickets from 14 matches, key domestic options struggled with consistency and fitness, leaving veterans like Mohammed Shami to shoulder too heavy a burden.Constant shuffling in lineup: Missing tactical anchors meant LSG spent the entire season mixing and matching combinations, preventing the playing XI from ever developing organic chemistry.The heavy price of overseas and marquee core failureRs 27 crore weight: Rishabh Pant’s record-breaking auction tag became a burden rather than a blessing. He opened the innings, came down the order, and was even tasked with anchoring the middle order while also captaining the ship. And what was the result? Pant managed only 312 runs across 14 matches at a mediocre average of 28.36 and a strike rate of 138.05.

Expected roles vs actual returns: While players like Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis held their end up brilliantly at the top, the rest of the overseas hitting core vanished when most needed. Nicholas Pooran, usually an apex predator in the middle overs, suffered a catastrophic drop in form with 234 runs in 14 games with an alarming average of 18, epitomised by his 2-ball duck against Punjab in the final game.No return from lower order: LSG spent massive money on impact players who repeatedly failed to build on strong powerplay platforms, regularly exposing an under-equipped lower order.Inconsistency of Indian core marred the campaignLSG’s season was plagued by wild momentum swings, but it was bookended by absolute collapses and under-firing domestic stars such as Avesh Khan, Digvesh Rathi, and Shardul Thakur.They failed to string together consecutive wins, losing any momentum they built.

LSG began the season with immediate stumbles. In the season opener, they lost to Delhi Capitals but made a turnaround with a string of three wins on the trot before crashing hard in mid-April to Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Punjab Kings.Just when they threatened to stage a late rally by defeating RCB on May 7, they collapsed entirely down the stretch, losing explicitly to CSK, RR, and PBKS to comfortably secure the wooden spoon.The collapse of the Ekana fortressIn previous iterations, the slow, gripping nature of the Ekana Stadium pitch made Lucknow a nightmare destination for travelling teams. In 2026, that home advantage evaporated entirely.LSG managed just a handful of wins in front of their home crowd, losing to the likes of DC, GT, KKR, and PBKS at Ekana.Travelling brought no relief. Apart from early away victories against SRH and KKR, they were soundly beaten in Chennai, Mumbai, and Jaipur, turning their away leg into a predictable nightmare.

LSG player report card

What is next for LSG?

The current blueprint relies too heavily on individual brilliance rather than cohesive team structure. Tom Moody’s postseason assessment highlighted a fatal flaw: the team repeatedly lost 4–5 wickets for minimal runs in the middle phases of an innings.They desperately need a tactical pivot toward reliable anchor accumulators who can protect the middle overs, allowing impact clearers to flourish late.

Can Rishabh Pant lead the next era?

This is the 27-crore question. Pant’s tactical choices under pressure and his personal form drop suggest that the burden of captaincy, coupled with his price tag, severely hindered his natural flair. While he remains a generational talent, management must decide if they need to unburden him by bringing in a different leadership voice or shifting tactical control to the coaching staff.How LSG can become a contender in 2027With 2027 serving as the crucial bridge year before the massive 2028 Mega Auction, LSG’s path forward requires precise, targeted adjustments:Fix the middle-order engine: Target reliable, spin-dominant domestic batters via the mini-auction or trade windows to stop the middle-overs collapses.Rebuild the spin philosophy: Recapturing a high-quality wrist-spinner or a mystery option to fill the Hasaranga void is non-negotiable if they want to make Ekana a fortress again.Shed underperforming baggage: Free up luxury purse space by making cutthroat decisions on highly paid international stars who failed to provide tangible returns.