Sanjiv Goenka posts picture with Rishabh Pant after LSG’s exit from IPL 2025

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) were knocked out of IPL 2025 after their six-wicket loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday night. Rishabh Pant’s first campaign as LSG skipper came to an end after Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen’s knocks helped SRH win their fourth game of the season. Lucknow’s team owner Sanjiv Goenka was seen getting frustrated after Pant was out for seven thanks to Eshan Malinga’s brilliant return catch. 

It’s been a challenging second half of the season, but there’s much to take heart in. The spirit, the effort, and the moments of excellence give us a lot to build on. Two games remain. Let’s play with pride and finish strong. #LSGvsSRH pic.twitter.com/gFzyddlnMn

— Dr. Sanjiv Goenka (@DrSanjivGoenka) May 20, 2025

Sanjiv Goenka took to his X handle and posted a picture with skipper Rishabh Pant and a few other players. Pant could be seen sitting on his knees speaking to Shardul Thakur, Abdul Samad, and two other teammates. Goenka, who was standing behind Pant, had his hands on his captain’s shoulders and was seemingly in good spirits while joining the chat. 

At the end of the game, Mr Goenka wrote, “It's been a challenging second half of the season, but there's much to take heart in. The spirit, the effort, and the moments of excellence give us a lot to build on. Two games remain. Let's play with pride and finish strong.”

Former India batter urges Pant to work on his T20 game

Rishabh Pant had a season to forget with the bat for LSG and there were many questions being raised about his form. The 27-year-old was asked to work hard on his T20 game by former India batter Aakash Chopra at the end of the game. Chopra, who was speaking on JioStar, said that Pant will have to develop his T20 game further to find success. 

Chopra said, “He's not a regular in the Indian T20 team either, so obviously, he wanted to make sure this was the big season—playing with a new franchise, building a good team together. It just hasn't turned out that way."

“His own form, the lessons to be learnt—whether you now want to approach T20 cricket differently or decide, ‘This is the template I’m going to follow, and I’ll just learn to be patient’—because that’s what happens when you go through a bad patch. It feels like everything is going wrong," India’s former Test opener added.