End of the road for Zaheer Khan at LSG? Disappointing IPL 2025 campaign likely to trigger an overhaul

Not even a week has elapsed since the conclusion of the 18th edition of the IPL, and reports suggest an urgency in franchises rectifying their moves for the next season. IPL 2025 arrived at a historic conclusion as the fan-favorites, RCB, picked their maiden trophy. Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Punjab Kings by 6 runs in Ahmedabad to lift the IPL title for the first time after an extended wait of 18 years. Now, while the focus shifts to international cricket with the WTC Final and India's England tour approaching soon, LSG is keen on making swift moves. The franchise, which finished 7th on the IPL 2025 points table, stands significantly disappointed in the team's performance.

Lucknow Super Giants scripted a hot and cold run in the recently concluded IPL season, colder than hot. The team relied heavily on their overseas picks to impact the victory cause, awaiting the captain's return to form. LSG splurged a record sum of 27 crores to bag Rishabh Pant in the IPL 2025 mega auction, making the wicket-keeper batsman the costliest pick in IPL history. However, Pant's performance failed to justify his inflated price tag as the new captain failed to show up with the bat. Moreover, LSG also dealt with multiple injury concerns in the bowling attack. Avesh Khan joined the camp late, Mohsin Khan was ruled out of the entire season, and Mayank Yadav could play only two games before being injured again.

The disppointing run of Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2025

Nicholas Pooran, who won the award for hitting the most sixes in IPL 2025, and Mitchell Marsh did the heavy lifting in the batting order. Aiden Markram chipped in with impactful cameos as LSG constantly stood devoid of Pant's assistance. In the bowling department, Shardul Thakur, signed as an injury replacement for Mohsin Khan, starred in the pace department while the young Digvesh Rathi emerged as a reliable spin prospect. However, the LSG team failed to show up as a unit collectively, missing out on crucial wins to make it into the IPL 2025 playoffs.

It was as late as the last league stage match when the bat of Rishabh Pant finally made the noise. The captain smashed a century against RCB, remaining unbeaten at 118 off 61. However, the ton came in a losing cause as RCB beat LSG by 6 wickets to claim a spot in Qualifier 1. Consequently, the Super Giants concluded their IPL 2025 campaign at the 7th spot on the points table with 6 wins in 14 matches.

Now, latest reports suggest that the franchise management is looking to curb the contract renewal of a significant member in the LSG support staff. Ahead of the IPL 2025 season, LSG signed Zaheer Khan as the mentor, which is now reported to have been a one-year contract. The reports now hint that the mentor's contract is very unlikely to be renewed by the franchise, owned by Sanjeev Goenka. The report further adds that the contract of Justin Langer, the LSG head coach, is also up for renewal. However, while there's no update on the franchise's decision regarding Langer, Zaheer Khan is in line to take the heat first.

From the team's inception in IPL 2022, LSG, under the leadership of KL Rahul, entered the IPL playoffs consecutively for three seasons. However, a disappointing run in IPL 2024 led to LSG and KL Rahul parting ways. Meanwhile, Zaheer Khan joined as the team mentor, coming in force with Rishabh Pant. As seen during IPL 2025, Khan was heavily involved in the team proceedings and in suggesting Pant's on-field calls.

However, the mentor-captain partnership of Zaheer Khan and Pant didn't brew up the desired results for LSG. Now, Sanjeev Goenka, the LSG owner known for his bold calls, is likely to drop Zaheer Khan from the forces ahead of IPL 2026. Meanwhile, Justin Langer, who joined after Gautam Gambhir left the LSG camp ahead of IPL 2024 to join KKR, is likely to sustain with the franchise currently focused on the role of Khan. Moreover, despite the disappointing run of Pant in IPL 2025, LSG, which invested as many as 27 crores in the Indian wicket-keeper batsman, is likely to continue with the skipper, at least for this cycle, which lasts till 2027.