3 min readUpdated: Apr 19, 2026 09:53 AM IST
Lucknow Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka came under heavy criticism following one of his team’s early defeats in the IPL 2026 season. In video clips that later went viral on social media, Goenka was seen having an animated chat with LSG captain Rishabh Pant.
Fans recalled an incident from 2024 when Goenka was seen having a stern chat with former skipper KL Rahul after a defeat. However, Goenka downplayed concerns of any rift with Pant, who was snapped up for a record Rs 27.50 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction and went on to replace Rahul as captain.
However, LSG’s fortunes have not gotten better since Pant’s team failed to make the Playoffs last season. With three defeats in five matches, Lucknow stand eighth on the standings thus far this year. Speaking on NDTV, the 65-year-old Goenka said that purported rifts with Pant were only fabricated stories on social media.
“You know, with Rishab, there has never been a scolding situation, ever. This is social media. Sanjiv Goenka did his hand like this, which gets them views. Right? So to that end, they decided, ‘let’s make Sanjiv Goenka a punching bag’,” he said on the show.
Goenka, however, admitted that the relentless coverage of the IPL has made him cautious.
“Yeah, accepting that [that he has been under scrutiny too much also because of his emotional nature]. I’m now learning that.
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“You know, I am a person who naturally talks with gestures. So I’m now learning to keep my hands behind, you know. Because you can take an angle out of context. There are so many morphed versions, there are so many AI-generated versions. But that’s it. I mean, what can I do?
“I can only be myself. And at the end of the day, I’m fairly clear on that,” he said.
‘Experts for cricketing matters’
Goenka denied taking cricketing matters of his team into his own hands and said that he had a specific team of experts that made the decisions.
“You know, I mean, for a person who’s never really played cricket, it would be foolish to tell my cricketers how to play, right? I have a team of experts, and it’s a big team that does that [addressing cricketing issues],” Goenka said.
