Dashing keeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been relieved from Lucknow Super Giants’ captaincy after a disastrous 2026 IPL season where they finished last among 10 teams.

As a batter, it turned out to be a woeful season where he got only 312 runs in 14 innings. On May 14, the PTI had reported that Pant was set to lose captaincy, something which was reiterated by LSG’s Director of Cricket Tom Moody.

“Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) wish to formally announce that Rishabh Pant has requested to be relieved of his captaincy duties with the franchise, and the franchisee has accepted his request with immediate effect,” the franchise said in an official statement.

“Rishabh approached the franchisee with this request and we have respectfully accepted it,” Moody was quoted as saying in the media release.

“These decisions are never easy. We are grateful for everything Rishabh has brought to this dressing room as captain. Our focus now is on the collective rebuilding and restructuring to reach the best standards,” the former Australian all-rounder added.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hopes to score a double century in T20 cricket. When a 15-year-old says that, he would normally invite indulgent looks and tolerant smiles if not outright derision. But not this 15-year-old. If he bats through 20 overs, it might even come easily. Twice this season he has made a fifty in 15 balls, and against Sunrisers Hyderabad he reached a century in 36 balls. Now extrapolate.

Ironically, six-hitters like him (he already has 53 and at least one match remaining to overtake Chris Gayle’s IPL record of 59) might have tilted the balance between bat and ball too much in one direction to the detriment of the format. Already this season there has been a record 1349 sixes (as at the end of the league phase), and diminishing marginal utility has kicked in.

Sooryavanshi was born after the birth of the IPL, and so perhaps sees nothing extraordinary about the glut of sixes in a format that is about a glut of sixes. What makes him special is what has made all the best batters special — the ability to pick length early. Footwork, balance, bat speed, fitness, temperament are all secondary. Picking length is fundamental. Everything begins there.

If you pick length late, batting becomes all about survival. Batters don’t have the time to work everything out after the ball pitches. The decision about what to do looks spontaneous because batters are reading the cues from the bowler from wrist position to release point to seam angle and trajectory to pace through the air. The best look unhurried because they have decoded everything and the body has got into position early. Timing improves not because the hands are faster, but because preparation is.

Different formats magnify this skill in different ways. In Test cricket, early length recognition allows patience and control. In T20s, it enables anticipation and innovation: ramp shots, pick-up pulls, and premeditated movement all depend on reading length almost instantaneously. The earlier you know where the ball will land, the more options you have.

In many ways, batting is a race against uncertainty. The bowler’s job is to delay the batter’s recognition for as long as possible. The batter’s job is to solve the puzzle early enough so he can stay balanced and decisive.

Impressive temperament

Even in a tournament filled with world-class batters, if Sooryavanshi stands out, it has to do as much with his age and confidence as with his ability to meet the ball at any point in its bounce. There is too his impressive temperament. Former England captain Michael Vaughan has pointed out that Sooryavanshi drives the future of T20 cricket. His strike rate, 232, shows other openers the path that can be taken. He has stretched the limits of the possible.

Is he the finest 15-year-old to play cricket? Sachin Tendulkar was 16 when he hit Abdul Qadir for 27 runs in an over, with four sixes. That was in an exhibition game following a rain washout, but had he played T20 as a teenager, there’s no telling what records he might have set. He too had the ability to pick length early and strike with rare power.

It can be assumed with a degree of confidence that Sooryavanshi will be in the Indian team for the white ball tour of England in July. The bowling he has faced in the IPL is of a superior quality and has greater range than anything a single country can muster.

What will be interesting, and really get the national debate going is the possibility of Sooryavanshi making an early entry into Test cricket. There is a vast gap between T20 cricket and Tests. What Sooryavanshi has in is favour is the ability to read length early. But what of his defence? A batter with a sound defence can make the shift to limited-over formats more easily than a limited-over player can switch to five-day Tests. Suryakumar Yadav, world-class batter in T20 for instance, has managed just one Test, and might be a cautionary tale.

Sooryavanshi is in India A teams (red ball) where his progress will be keenly monitored. Meanwhile let us enjoy the sight of a 15-year-old carrying an IPL team on his shoulders. A boy among adults who might be destiny’s child.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hopes to score a double century in T20 cricket. When a 15-year-old says that, he would normally invite indulgent looks and tolerant smiles if not outright derision. But not this 15-year-old. If he bats through 20 overs, it might even come easily. Twice this season he has made a fifty in 15 balls, and against Sunrisers Hyderabad he reached a century in 36 balls. Now extrapolate.

Ironically, six-hitters like him (he already has 53 and at least one match remaining to overtake Chris Gayle’s IPL record of 59) might have tilted the balance between bat and ball too much in one direction to the detriment of the format. Already this season there has been a record 1349 sixes (as at the end of the league phase), and diminishing marginal utility has kicked in.

Sooryavanshi was born after the birth of the IPL, and so perhaps sees nothing extraordinary about the glut of sixes in a format that is about a glut of sixes. What makes him special is what has made all the best batters special — the ability to pick length early. Footwork, balance, bat speed, fitness, temperament are all secondary. Picking length is fundamental. Everything begins there.

If you pick length late, batting becomes all about survival. Batters don’t have the time to work everything out after the ball pitches. The decision about what to do looks spontaneous because batters are reading the cues from the bowler from wrist position to release point to seam angle and trajectory to pace through the air. The best look unhurried because they have decoded everything and the body has got into position early. Timing improves not because the hands are faster, but because preparation is.

Different formats magnify this skill in different ways. In Test cricket, early length recognition allows patience and control. In T20s, it enables anticipation and innovation: ramp shots, pick-up pulls, and premeditated movement all depend on reading length almost instantaneously. The earlier you know where the ball will land, the more options you have.

In many ways, batting is a race against uncertainty. The bowler’s job is to delay the batter’s recognition for as long as possible. The batter’s job is to solve the puzzle early enough so he can stay balanced and decisive.

Impressive temperament

Even in a tournament filled with world-class batters, if Sooryavanshi stands out, it has to do as much with his age and confidence as with his ability to meet the ball at any point in its bounce. There is too his impressive temperament. Former England captain Michael Vaughan has pointed out that Sooryavanshi drives the future of T20 cricket. His strike rate, 232, shows other openers the path that can be taken. He has stretched the limits of the possible.

Is he the finest 15-year-old to play cricket? Sachin Tendulkar was 16 when he hit Abdul Qadir for 27 runs in an over, with four sixes. That was in an exhibition game following a rain washout, but had he played T20 as a teenager, there’s no telling what records he might have set. He too had the ability to pick length early and strike with rare power.

It can be assumed with a degree of confidence that Sooryavanshi will be in the Indian team for the white ball tour of England in July. The bowling he has faced in the IPL is of a superior quality and has greater range than anything a single country can muster.

What will be interesting, and really get the national debate going is the possibility of Sooryavanshi making an early entry into Test cricket. There is a vast gap between T20 cricket and Tests. What Sooryavanshi has in is favour is the ability to read length early. But what of his defence? A batter with a sound defence can make the shift to limited-over formats more easily than a limited-over player can switch to five-day Tests. Suryakumar Yadav, world-class batter in T20 for instance, has managed just one Test, and might be a cautionary tale.

Sooryavanshi is in India A teams (red ball) where his progress will be keenly monitored. Meanwhile let us enjoy the sight of a 15-year-old carrying an IPL team on his shoulders. A boy among adults who might be destiny’s child.

Moments after Rajasthan Royals sealed the final Indian Premier League playoffs berth with a convincing win over Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday (May24, 2026) night, head coach Kumar Sangakkara passionately defended captain Riyan Parag, insisting the young allrounder remains the “absolute right guy” to lead the franchise despite a turbulent IPL 2026 season.

Parag’s maiden full season as captain has been marked by inconsistent batting returns, recurring fitness concerns and off-field scrutiny, including repeated social media criticism following the vaping incident in the dressing room during a match. Yet, Sangakkara made it clear that the Royals management remains firmly invested in the 24-year-old.

“I have seen very few players who have been criticised like Riyan has been for about seven years now,” Sangakkara said. “Ever since I came to the franchise, there have always been people who liked Riyan, but there are a lot who didn’t really like him, especially on social media. But that’s the reality of the modern game.”

The former Sri Lankan captain revealed that Rajasthan never doubted Parag’s leadership credentials when handing him the captaincy before the season.

“When we decided to offer Riyan the captaincy, he was the absolute right guy to lead this franchise. I have no doubt in my mind,” Sangakkara said.

Despite battling physical niggles through parts of the campaign and enduring fluctuating form with the bat, Parag continued to front up for the Royals during their successful late push towards qualification. Sangakkara particularly praised the batter’s resilience and commitment.

“The confidence with which he drives himself, sometimes almost on one foot to come and play, there is a huge amount of positivity,” Sangakkara observed. “I think he has captained exceptionally well.”

Sangakkara also stressed that Parag commands complete respect inside the dressing room, irrespective of outside noise.

“Sometimes what you see on the outside is not Riyan Parag,” he said. “He is a lovely, soft, gentle, really determined, smart young man. He has learned a lot in the last few years and he will continue on that journey.”

Shreyas Iyer picked the perfect evening to score his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) ton as he powered Punjab Kings to a comfortable seven-wicket win over the Lucknow Super Giants.

“He’s a tremendous leader of many. He reads the game well,” said PBKS assistant coach Brad Haddin after the game.

“There are two main things that I think I enjoy most about him. One is his care for his players, and the other is his appetite for the big moment. He’s seen that tonight. He wanted to be the one to make the difference, and that’s what you want from your leaders, whether it’s for the IPL or for your country,” added the 48-year-old.

Haddin emphasised that the team’s overall execution in high-pressure situations has been a major focus behind the scenes.

“I think as any coaching staff, you have to identify moments where you need to get better, and that’s what we’ve done. A lot of the games we lost went to the last over and a couple to the last ball where we were close, but we probably weren’t identifying those big moments,” he said.

While one captain delivered when it mattered, his counterpart, Rishabh Pant, had little to show for his efforts — either on Saturday (May 23, 2026) or across a grueling season.

LSG’s Global Director of Cricket, Tom Moody, felt his captaincy and batting are correlated. “From a captaincy point of view, he’s found it challenging, obviously, and the results reflect that. And you have to wonder whether that is a pressure that is reflected with his performance with the bat,” he said.

“And certainly when it comes to the leadership of the franchise, it’s something that we’ll be giving some very serious consideration to what it looks like in the future,” he added.

Rajasthan Royals assistant coach Trevor Penney on Saturday (May 23, 2026) dismissed concerns over Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s fielding abilities, insisting that the teenage batting sensation has been used as an Impact Substitute purely to keep him fresh for batting duties.

The 15-year-old, who recently earned a call-up to the India A squad for the tour of Sri Lanka, has largely featured as a batting-only option in the ongoing Indian Premier League season. That usage pattern had prompted questions around his fielding standards and athleticism.

Penney, however, made it clear that Sooryavanshi’s exclusion from the field had nothing to do with his abilities.

“He is a very good fielder. He has got great hands. He moves well. He dives. He anticipates. He has got all that,” Penney said on the eve of Rajasthan’s crucial league fixture.

According to the former India fielding coach, the Royals management has merely tried to optimise the teenager’s workload through the tournament.

“Sometimes with him opening the batting, him going in in the second innings being fresh, it’s worked for us,” Penney explained. “There is no specific reason why he is a bad fielder or we are not playing him in the field. It’s nothing to do with that.”

Penney added that match situations and combinations had occasionally forced the team to prefer more experienced fielders on the park.

“But generally it’s been to keep him fresh for his batting,” he said.

The Royals think-tank also appeared impressed by Sooryavanshi’s maturity despite his age, particularly highlighting his game awareness during a recent chase.

“You saw in the last game he had 10 off 11 balls and he was so determined to win that game. That’s why he didn’t go in and just try and hit from ball one,” Penney said. “He has really got a good brain for a young guy as well.”

Even before the final round of league-stage matches began, Sunday (May 25, 2026) afternoon’s fixture at the Wankhede Stadium had already emerged as the most consequential contest of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) business end.

Of the five teams that were still in contention for the lone remaining playoffs spot, Rajasthan Royals is the only side with its fate firmly in its own hands.

Adding to the intrigue is the maiden appearance of teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi at the Wankhede — that too in front of nearly 19,000 schoolchildren attending as part of Mumbai Indians owners’ Education and Sports For All initiative. For perhaps the first time at the venue, the Royals could find themselves enjoying overwhelming crowd support.

The equation for Rajasthan Royals is straightforward: win and qualify. But the challenge is anything but simple.

The Royals management will anxiously monitor the fitness of captain Riyan Parag and veteran allrounder Ravindra Jadeja. Yet, even in their absence, stand-in skipper Yashasvi Jaiswal marshalled the side impressively before Sooryavanshi’s explosive innings against Lucknow Super Giants earlier this week kept RR’s campaign alive.

Rajasthan will once again bank on the youthful duo of Sooryavanshi and Jaiswal — returning to his alma mater — while hoping Jofra Archer continues his fine rhythm with the ball.

But facing Mumbai Indians with nothing to lose can often be a dangerous proposition. After an underwhelming season, the home side will be desperate to sign off on a winning note. It will be interesting to see if Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya — the duo that has had a lacklustre season — end it on a high.

Will Mumbai Indians play disruptor-in-chief? Or will Rajasthan Royals seal the playoffs berth and render the final league game in Kolkata irrelevant?

Nine 200-plus totals conceded and six consecutive losses have left Punjab Kings (PBKS) facing a complex qualification scenario in the ongoing Indian Premier League season.

Gearing up for a do-or-die fixture against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium here on Saturday (May 23, 2026), PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting rued the team’s inability to deliver in crunch moments.

“Yes, we’ve lost six games in a row. But there have been very few games where we’ve been outplayed. We got into winning positions in most but haven’t been able to close them out,” he said.

A key factor in the team’s decline has been Arshdeep Singh’s dip in form compared to last season. However, Ponting defended his frontline pacer, noting that the shortest format has shifted drastically in favor of batters.

“In the last three games, Arshdeep has been getting back to his best,” Ponting said. “He didn’t pick up wickets in the first three games, but since then, he’s been pretty consistent.”

Ponting emphasised the high-scoring nature of the tournament to contextualise the bowling struggles. “We have conceded nine 200-plus totals, but we’ve made 200s eight times. The IPL has become a much higher-scoring tournament, and bowlers’ figures reflect that. I’ve been extremely happy with how Arshdeep has bowled.”

Come Saturday, PBKS will hope Arshdeep and the bowling attack can finally flip the script and deliver crucial, match-defining breakthroughs with the team’s playoffs qualification on the line.

On the other hand, an already eliminated LSG comes into the game with nothing to lose. It already played a part in Chennai Super Kings’ exit and will look to do the same against the visitor.

“We haven’t found the ideal winning formula this season so far. So, hopefully moving into tomorrow, we can do that, and we can put on one final good show for our fans at home,” said LSG assistant coach Lance Klusener.

The last time Punjab Kings (PBKS) faced the now-eliminated Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 19 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, it was the team to beat, going unbeaten in its first six games.

Cut to the present, and the Shreyas Iyer-led side has suffered six consecutive losses. It now faces a must-win situation against LSG in Lucknow on Saturday (May 23, 2026).

Punjab’s season has been a tale of two contrasting departments. Its batting has been terrifying. With over 2,400 runs and a tournament-leading 156 sixes, PBKS possesses the firepower to overwhelm anyone with the bat.

At the top, Priyansh Arya strikes at an absurd rate of 212.86, while Prabhsimran Singh relentlessly attacks the PowerPlay. Meanwhile, the breakout brilliance of Cooper Connolly (473 runs) anchors the middle order, with Shreyas Iyer providing stability.

However, Punjab’s Achilles’ heel is a bowling attack that has been violently exposed.

Its pace battery is bleeding. Premier pacer Arshdeep Singh, despite taking 14 wickets, is conceding at an economy of 9.78. Even Lockie Ferguson and Marco Jansen, its rotating overseas options, have struggled for consistency in the death overs. Without a disciplined defensive spearhead, Punjab is failing to contain teams in high-pressure finishes.

Lucknow, playing purely for pride, remains highly volatile. Free from pressure, LSG’s opening pair of Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis — coming off a blistering 109-run stand — will look to launch a fearless PowerPlay assault to shatter Punjab’s fragile defensive lines.

For Punjab, surviving this initial onslaught is only the first step in a much larger, agonising battle for self-preservation. A win on Saturday won’t guarantee qualification for the 2025 finalist.

Its catastrophic losing streak has stripped it of control over its destiny. Even if PBKS reaches 15 points, it needs Mumbai Indians to defeat the Rajasthan Royals. If that happens and Kolkata Knight Riders also finishes on 15 points, PBKS’s superior Net Run Rate will be its ultimate saving grace to sneak into the playoffs.

Rajasthan Royals is just a win away from qualifying for the IPL playoffs. The Royals have to thank two players in particular for allowing them to hope going into their last league match. While everyone is raving — and rightly so — about the incredible Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Jofra Archer’s contribution hasn’t received as much attention.

It was his brilliant final over that ensured Sooryavanshi would have to chase a lesser target against Lucknow Super Giants in the must-win encounter at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Tuesday (May 19, 2026) . In LSG’s last over, just five runs came, not to mention the loss of three wickets.

It was a fine comeback by the Barbados-born England quick after disappointing in the PowerPlay. In the first half of the IPL this season, it was his fast and furious spells in the PowerPlay that broke the back of the rival teams’ batting.

With the new ball, he would deliver some awkward balls, some of which would climb menacingly into the batter. With the South African left-armer Nandre Burger, he formed probably the season’s most lethal new-ball attack.

Archer has been a trusted servant for Royals since landing in Jaipur in 2018. He hadn’t made his senior international debut yet. After being discovered, and taken along to Sussex, by fellow-Bajan Chris Jordan, he was serving the waiting period to play for England.

He had already been fascinated with the IPL. “I always wanted to play at the IPL but didn’t know how,” he had told this correspondent back then. Royals made it easier for him, spending Rs. 7.2 crore. Except for one season, in 2023 when he turned up for Mumbai Indians, he has always been with the Rajasthan franchise.

After taking 15 wickets in his first season, he took 20 in the 2020 edition, in which he was also the Most Valuable Player. Royals need him to breathe fire in Mumbai on Sunday (May 24, 2026).