Courtesy: Star Sports/X

Courtesy: Star Sports/X

Indian wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant has been appointed as the new captain of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in an announcement from principal franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka during a sit-down interview earlier today. Rishabh Pant, who was also present alongside Sanjiv Goenka, talked about the IPL 2025 mega auction scenario wherein he was quite tense about getting picked by Punjab Kings (PBKS), brutally trolling the most unsuccessful IPL franchise over the last decade or so.

Notably, during the IPL 2025 mega auction, Rishabh Pant became the highest paid player in the history of the league after Lucknow Super Giants shelled out a whopping INR 27 Crore to acquire his services. The record was broken moments after Punjab Kings had paid INR 26.75 Crore to sign Shreyas Iyer in the mega auction, making him the highest paid player in the IPL history for a brief moment.

Mereko andar se ek hi ka tension tha, wo tha Punjab Kings: Rishabh Pant

While speaking to Jatin Sapru in an exclusive interview for Star Sports, Rishabh Pant, the newly appointed captain of LSG talked about the scenario of Punjab Kings signing him since they had by far the highest purse going into the IPL 2025 mega auction. He said, “Mereko andar se ek hi ka tension tha, wo tha Punjab [Kings] thoda sa. Because, see Punjab [might] outbid [everyone for me] matlab crazy ho jaaye (I had only one tension in mind, that was Punjab Kings. Because, see Punjab might outbid everyone for me, something crazy happens).”

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In the same interview, Rishabh Pant also talked about feeling relieved when his India teammate Shreyas Iyer was picked up by Punjab Kings, which made it easier for Lucknow Super Giants to sign him. He was quoted as saying, as per OneCricket, “When Shreyas went to Punjab, I felt I could make it to LSG. But with the auction, you never know, so I just thought I would wait and watch, fingers crossed.”

In the IPL 2025, Rishabh Pant will be captaining LSG for the first-time in his career, but he has experience of leading Delhi Capitals for multiple years in the league.