Sanjiv Goenka on Rishabh Pant: Relationship Continues After Trade

The Rishabh Pant chapter at Lucknow Super Giants closed with a high-profile trade, not a cold goodbye.

LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka has revealed that his conversations with Pant have carried on well beyond the deal that sent the wicketkeeper-batter back to Delhi Capitals ahead of the 2027 IPL season. The move, worth Rs 15 crore for Pant with India spinner Kuldeep Yadav arriving in Lucknow in a Rs 13.5 crore valuation, formally ended a two-season experiment that never quite delivered what the price tag promised.

Speaking on Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast, Goenka was asked about his final exchange with Pant before the switch to Delhi. He pushed back on the idea that their interaction ended with the paperwork.

“Our last conversation wasn’t just about the trade. We have continued to speak even after that,” Goenka said, underlining that the relationship had outlived the franchise association.

When pressed on what he told Pant as the player walked away from LSG colours, Goenka kept it simple and personal: “Good luck to him and best wishes. We plan to have dinner one of these days.”

It was a very different tone from the noise that surrounded Pant’s arrival in Lucknow.

A record signing, an instant captaincy, and no playoffs

Pant joined Lucknow Super Giants at the 2025 mega auction for a staggering Rs 27 crore, the highest price ever paid for a player in IPL history at the time. LSG did not just buy a star; they handed him the armband as well, making him captain after KL Rahul’s departure.

The message was clear: this was Pant’s team, and this was supposed to be LSG’s leap into the IPL elite.

The results never matched the ambition. Across Pant’s two seasons as captain, Lucknow failed to reach the playoffs even once. Performances swung, expectations hardened, and scrutiny followed every tactical call and every innings from their marquee man.

The pressure eventually told in a different way. Before the 2026 season drew to a close, Pant was relieved of the captaincy, reportedly at his own request. Not long after, came the trade back to his original franchise, Delhi Capitals, closing a brief but intensely watched stint in Lucknow.

An expensive bet that didn’t pay off on the table, but not a broken bond off it.

Pant’s stock with India stays high

While his time at LSG raised questions about value, balance, and leadership, Pant’s standing in Indian cricket has barely dipped.

The 28-year-old recently turned out for India in the Test series in Sri Lanka, where India won the opener in Galle and were held to a draw in Colombo after enforcing the follow-on and watching Sri Lanka bat out a long, stubborn fourth-innings resistance.

In that series, Pant quietly moved past one of Indian cricket’s biggest names. He overtook former India captain MS Dhoni to become the country’s leading run-scorer as a designated wicketkeeper in away or neutral Test matches.

Pant now has 2,534 runs in those conditions at an average of more than 41, edging ahead of Dhoni’s 2,496. Farokh Engineer sits a distant third with 1,209 runs, followed by Syed Kirmani on 1,109 and Kiran More on 901.

He has also climbed another notable chart, going past Australia’s Adam Gilchrist to become the third-highest six-hitter in Test cricket. For a player so often judged through the volatile prism of T20 and the IPL, his long-format record continues to grow in stature.

Back to Delhi, but bridges intact

Pant’s return to Delhi Capitals marks a fresh turn in his IPL story. For LSG, it is the end of a record-breaking investment that did not translate into the sustained, deep playoff runs they had imagined when they pushed their chips to the centre of the table in 2025.

Yet Goenka’s words cut through the usual post-trade froideur. There is no hint of bitterness, no public distancing from a decision that drew so much attention when it was first made. Just a promise of a dinner, and the suggestion that professional paths can diverge without personal ties snapping.

Pant’s next act in Delhi will be judged on runs, results, and trophies. The ledger in Lucknow is already closed. The relationship, it seems, is not.