Former South African wicket-keeper Mark Boucher urged Rishabh Pant to leave captaincy if it is affecting his batting. Pant was dismissed after scoring 26 runs off 22 balls against Punjab Kings at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Saturday.

The left-hander could only manage 312 runs in 13 innings at an average of 28.36 and a strike rate of 138.05 in IPL 2026 and thus could not lead from the front.

Pant had accumulated 269 runs in 13 innings in the previous season at an average of 24.45 and a strike rate of 133.16.

Mark Boucher said on ESPN Cricinfo, “Rishabh Pant the cricketer and his leadership, the two are not working together. We have seen that for a couple of seasons now. He hasn’t produced what he is expected to produce. Not everyone is like Rishabh Pant. There are certain players who need to prepare properly. You need to be able to sit down with your captain and explain your line of thinking. He needs to understand that as well.

“We all want to see Pant hitting the ball all over the ground. If the captaincy is getting in the way, then get rid of the captaincy,” he added.

On the other hand, former Indian batter Ambati Rayudu reckons Pant can not change his personality overnight and he relies more on instinct as a leader.

“For someone who always relies on instinct, it is so hard for him to prepare everything, be methodical in terms of his decisions. Either you give him captaincy and let him be the way he is or you don’t give him captaincy. He cannot change his personality overnight. He has a certain way of captaining. If that is not working, the best thing he can do is be a player and enjoy his cricket and perform for the team.”

LSG ended the season as the cellar-dwellers, winning only four out of their 14 games.