'Rishabh Pant should play purely as a player' - Wasim Jaffer proposes captaincy change for Lucknow Super Giants

Published - 26 Apr 2026, 16:35 IST | Updated - 26 Apr 2026, 16:51 IST

Former India opener Wasim Jaffer has suggested the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) management replace Rishabh Pant with Aiden Markram as their captain for the remainder of the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) season.

Jaffer believes that to get the best out of Pant as a batter, LSG need to free him from the burden of captaincy and give the reins to Markram. The South African is an experienced skipper in the T20 circuit. The right-handed batter captained the Sunrisers Eastern Cape to two SA20 titles and has led South Africa to the final and semi-final of the 2024 and 2026 T20 World Cup.

“I feel a player like Rishabh Pant should play purely as a player. You get the best out of him when you free him up and tell him to just go out and play and win matches on his own. Don’t burden him with captaincy. I think Aiden Markram is a better captain. He has led South Africa very successfully, he is mentally strong, very composed, and I think he can get the best out of the other players. But this doesn’t look like something that will actually happen. This is just my suggestion, but if I were there, that’s what I would do,” Wasim Jaffer said on his YouTube channel.

Apart from suggesting a change in captaincy, Jaffer also wants Markram to return to his usual spot as opener alongside Mitchell Marsh. He also wants out-of-form Nicholas Pooran to come up to number three with Pant to bat at number four.

“LSG looks completely out of place right now, it’s hard to even know what to expect from them. If I were in that dugout, the first thing I would do is make Aiden Markram the captain. I would open with Markram and Mitchell Marsh. At number three, Nicholas Pooran, then Rishabh Pant at four, and Ayush Badoni at five. At number six, Abdul Samad, and at seven, Mukul Choudhary. That would be my top seven, and I would go with this batting order,” he went on to add.

LSG have been in a bit of a freefall this season in the Indian Premier League (IPL). At the time of writing, they are currently on a four-match losing streak in the tournament and find themselves ninth in the standings with just four points to their name.

Pant’s side are set to take on yet another struggling outfit in the form of the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Ekana International Stadium on Sunday, April 26.