‘Have to win our first trophy,’ says Sanjiv Goenka:LSG owner insists, ‘Until you win, you don’t receive the same level of respect’

Lucknow Super Giants will enter the IPL 2026 season in a new jersey, with a new logo, backed by fresh belief to win the silverware. Owner Sanjiv Goenka believes that until his side can win the elusive IPL crown, LSG won’t have the same ‘respect’ as some of the other IPL sides. Speaking on JioStar’s ‘IPL Today Live’, LSG’s owner Sanjiv Goenka and Global Director of Cricket Tom Moody shared their thoughts on improvements in the squad from the last season and the pressure of winning the first title. Goenka said that he is happy his team has made the playoffs twice, but they will hope to go all the way this time around. Pressure of winning the first title on Lucknow Super Giants “I think the true identity is still evolving. For any sports team, until you win, you don’t receive the same level of respect or affection that comes with lifting the trophy. Yes, we’ve made the playoffs twice, but that’s clearly not good enough. You win some, you lose some, but we have to win our first trophy.” LSG’s Global Director of Cricket, Tom Moody, explained why the Indian domestic pace-bowling attack was a focus area for the support staff. “Having spoken to everyone from Mr. Goenka down through the system here at Lucknow, it’s very clear that the preparation leading into 2025 wasn’t as good as it could have been. We had a number of players who were underdone, fitness-wise,” said Moody. Tom Moody speaks on LSG’s bowling unit The former Sunrisers Hyderabad coach said, “The squad and balance we have now, include a strong, high-quality domestic fast-bowling attack, which we’ve added to smartly in the off-season through a trade for Mohammed Shami, who can lead that group and show the way forward. All the areas we felt needed improvement have been addressed, including bringing in a new medical team. At this point, all our fast bowlers are giving us a selection headache, which is exactly what you want going into the first game.” Captain Rishabh Pant’s form has been a key talking point before the season. JioStar expert Faf du Plessis analysed why Rishabh Pant’s explosive talent has not translated into T20I consistency. “The talent that Rishabh Pant has is tremendous. You look at him playing Test cricket and you think, this guy has all the shots. When I look at his game, I feel he has too many options in his head. He feels like he can hit a six off every ball to any part of the ground. But in T20 batting, you still need a method. You need a game plan for how you go about your business. Look at all the great T20 players. You can almost have an idea of where they will score their boundaries and where they have slight weaknesses. They work their way through that. With Pant, I feel he is always on the edge. When you watch him play, you feel he can get out at any time because it is almost frantic at times. The surprising number for me is his T20 strike-rate, which is around 130. How is that possible for a guy with so many shots? Maybe it is because we watch him in Test cricket playing these extravagant, exuberant innings, taking the game on. We almost feel that should just happen in T20 cricket as well.” On what Pant needs to do to find consistency: “Rishabh Pant’s stroke play is one that looks all over the place. There is some sort of method and game plan that goes into his head. He has a blueprint for how he wants to play Test cricket. The same thing applies in T20 cricket. He needs to figure out exactly what his game plan looks like to give himself the best chance. Not to be a one out of ten or two out of ten kind of player, but to be in the 60 to 70 per cent range where he can have consistency. To do that, you can’t premeditate every ball. That is too high risk. Yes, you might hit a few sixes and play a couple of good innings. But when teams bowl wide to him, he is good enough to have something else in his armoury to hit through the offside. His game plan is not one-dimensional. He can score all around the ground. For me, it is about his first six balls. When I look at him, he is almost like a highlight player. I want him to be more of a high-impact player in terms of what he can give in his numbers,” said Du Plessis. Catch all the action from TATA IPL 2026, March 28 onwards, LIVE on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network.