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Lucknow Super Giants
Former India U-19 fielding coach Abhay Sharma is likely to join Lucknow Super Giants as fielding coach for 2026 Indian Premier League. Sharma's latest assignment was with the Uganda national team and as head coach, he was part of the side's maiden World Cup campaign in 2024. The 56-year-old has also coached the Indian women's cricket team. After making the play-offs in their first two seasons, LSG finished seventh in the previous two editions. The franchise recently announced Tom Moody as its director of cricket with New Zealand great Kane Williamson named its strategic director. Rishabh Pant is the leader of the side coached by Justin Langer. "Abhay has extensive experience working with the leading Indian cricketers and that should come in handy at LSG," said a BCCI source. The former first class cricketer has worked with the likes of Pant, Shubman Gill, Arshdeep Singh, Dhruv Jurel, Avesh Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal at the U-19 level. He was part of India U-19 support staff in the
Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun, who recently ended his ties with Kolkata Knight Riders, has been roped in by Lucknow Super Giants in the same capacity even as the official announcement is awaited. "Yes, Arun has joined LSG and a formal announcement is expected soon," a source close to the franchise told PTI on conditions of anonymity. Arun for the past few years was associated with KKR but after a poor eighth place finish in 2025, the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise is in the process of rejigging its coaching staff with Abhishek Nayar and Dwayne Bravo all set to call the shots. Hence Chandrakant Pandit and Arun, the two veterans parted ways. Similarly, after a seventh place finish in the last edition, LSG are also making changes to their support staff. The LSG bowling wasn't top notch during last season and much of it could be attributed to the absence of India's fastest bowler Mayank Yadav from all but two games. Arun, one of the finest bowling coaches the national team h
Lucknow Super Giants mentor Zaheer Khan has asserted that skipper Rishabh Pant's calibre and ability were never in doubt despite his underwhelming performances for most of the IPL season and the charismatic stumper will emerge stronger after this learning curve. Bought for a whopping Rs 27 crore at the mega auction, Pant endured a lean patch, managing just 269 runs from 13 innings. He found his trademark big-hitting touch only in the last game of the season with a 61-ball 118 but that too ended up in a losing cause against Royal Challengers Bengaluru here on Tuesday. "He's been good as a leader. That was a positive for us throughout the season. The form with the bat was definitely a learning experience for him, having this kind of season. "But the ability and calibre -- no one had any doubt about it," Zaheer said in the post-match press conference on Tuesday. The former India pace spearhead said it was good to see the swashbuckling keeper-batter, end the season on a high. "We're h
His IPL campaign over, India's swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant on Tuesday said he would want to "switch off" for a few days before leaving for the Test tour of England in a "good frame of mind." Pant slammed a magnificent century -- 118 off 61 balls -- to power Lucknow Super Giants to 227 for three against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the final league fixture of IPL 2025 here. But RCB, riding on Jitesh Sharma's 33-ball 85 and Mayank Agarwal's 23-ball 41, and the duo's unbroken 107-run partnership for the fifth wicket, pulled off a memorable win to seal their place in Qualifier 1. "Just want to switch off for a few days, not think about cricket and then the England series is coming up and just preparing for that in a good frame of mind," Pant said at the presentation ceremony. The LSG skipper rued the absence of key bowlers for a good part of the season owing to injury. "Eventually you got to play 40 overs of good cricket. 20 overs will definitely not save you in a