Lucknow Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka hugged Rishabh Pant after their emphatic win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, easing tensions following their earlier defeat to Delhi Capitals.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka, who was seen having a serious discussion with skipper Rishabh Pant after their one-wicket loss to Delhi Capitals, displayed a completely different emotion after LSG’s convincing win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday.
Last season, a loss to Hyderabad had triggered an animated exchange between Goenka and then-captain KL Rahul. The strained relationship between the two eventually led to Rahul’s departure before the IPL 2025 mega-auction.
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Pant’s decision to bowl first on a batting-friendly Hyderabad pitch raised a few eyebrows, especially after Sunrisers had hammered 286 runs in their opening match against Rajasthan Royals. However, the bowlers, led by Shardul Thakur, justified Pant’s decision by restricting Hyderabad to 190/9 in 20 overs.
Goenka, visibly elated after the victory, gave Pant a tight hug. Team mentor Zaheer Khan was also seen smiling as he witnessed the heartfelt moment. Pant, Goenka, and Zaheer had a brief conversation before heading to the post-match presentation.
Pant admitted that securing his first victory as Lucknow’s skipper was a huge relief. “Big relief, but as a team, we talk about the process. It’s not about getting too high when you win and not about getting too low when you lose,” Pant said during the post-match presentation.
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Pant emphasized the importance of focusing on controllable factors. “As a team, we can’t focus on uncontrollables. My mentor said focus on controllables, and that is what I did,” Pant added.
Nicholas Pooran’s blistering 70 powered LSG to chase down the target in the 17th over. The win propelled Lucknow to the second spot on the points table, with two points from as many matches and a net run rate of 0.96.
“I think we just want to give freedom to him. You’ve got to give someone the charge when he is batting well and he has batted brilliantly for us,” Pant said, praising Pooran’s performance.
