Batters LSG should retain for IPL 2026 ft. Rishabh Pant

The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have been making a lot of changes as far as their coaching staff is concerned. Zaheer Khan has left his role as a mentor, while Tom Moody and Kane Williamson have joined as Global Director and strategic advisor, respectively. While there were rumours of Yuvraj Singh replacing Justin Langer as head coach, nothing has been made official yet on that front.

However, all the management members alongside captain Rishabh Pant would be deciding on the retention list that they need to share on the retention deadline day (November 15). While LSG finished seventh with an inconsistent season, they had some things that went in their way, a few of which we will discuss below. Before that, let us look at the batting core that LSG need to keep with them going into IPL 2026.

Batting options LSG have for IPL 2026

Batter	Price (INR)	IPL 2025 stats	Retain/Release
Mitchell Marsh	₹3.4 crore	627 runs at 48.23 & SR of 163.70	Retain
Nicholas Pooran	₹21 crore	524 runs at 43.66 & SR of 196.25	Retain
Aiden Markram	₹2 crore	445 runs at 34.23 & SR of 148.82	Retain
Ayush Badoni	₹4 crore	329 runs at 32.90 & SR of 148.19	Retain
Rishabh Pant	₹27 crore	269 runs at 24.45 & SR of 133.16	Retain
Abdul Samad	₹4.2 crore	164 runs at 20.50 & SR of 176.34	Retain
David Miller	₹7.5 crore	153 runs at 30.60 & SR of 127.50	Release
Matthew Breetzke	₹75 lakh	14 runs at 14.00 & SR of 116.66	Release
Himmat Singh	₹30 lakh	Did not play	Release
Aryan Juyal	₹30 lakh	Did not play	Retain

LSG had a weird combination of filling all four of their overseas spots as batters, with their bowling being highly inexperienced. They picked up Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh for cheap prices but the opening duo delivered big time. Despite batting in a slow Lucknow surface, both were consistent and amazingly amassed more than 40 percent of the total runs LSG scored at IPL 2025!

Add to that, Nicholas Pooran was unplayable in the first half of the tournament. Retained at a whopping Rs 21 crore, Pooran delivered a season only he can and operated at a SR of almost 200. At four is Rishabh Pant, the most expensive player in the IPL history. He failed big time in his debut season with LSG but finished it with a terrific century against RCB. Every run that Pant made (269) cost LSG almost Rs 10 lac! However, being the captain and the face of the side, you’d back Pant to come good.

Why no David Miller & Breetzke?

Apart from the big four mentioned, Ayush Badoni and Abdul Samad should be retained as well. Both offer similar roles – dish in vital cameos as finishers. Badoni has been part of the side since 2022 and has been retained year after year. Last season, he outclassed the likes of Pant and David Miller, scoring more than 300 runs at SR of of 148.19. Similarly, Samad has been around the IPL circuit for quite a while now and shouldn’t be released.

However, we cannot say the same for two South Africans in Miller and Matthew Breetzke. Both are fantastic in their own rights but LSG would free up more than Rs 8 crore by releasing them. LSG already have a bunch of overseas batters and would need to free up overseas quota to buy foreigners for other specializations. Miller didn’t have a great season as well with LSG and with Badoni, Samad, and Pant in, they don’t really need the southpaw. As for Breetzke, he is an exceptional talent, especially in ODIs. However, after 121 T20 innings, he still averages 28.89 at a 134.07 SR.

Among Aryan Juyal and Himmat Singh, LSG should retain the younger Indian talent, which is Juyal in this case. Himmat is touching 30, while Juyal is 24-year-old and is considered as the next big thing in UP cricket. He knows the Ekana Stadium well too!

LSG IPL 2025 entire squad

Rishabh Pant (captain) (₹27 crore), Nicholas Pooran (retained) (₹21 crore), Ravi Bishnoi (retained) (₹11 crore), William O’Rourke (replacement) (₹3 crore), David Miller (₹7.5 crore), Aiden Markram (₹2 crore), Aryan Juyal (₹30 lakh), Himmat Singh (₹30 lakh), Matthew Breetzke (₹75 lakh), Mitchell Marsh (₹3.4 crore), Shardul Thakur (replacement) (₹2 crore), Shahbaz Ahmed (₹2.4 crore), Abdul Samad (₹4.2 crore), Yuvraj Chaudhary (₹30 lakh), Rajvardhan Hangargekar (₹30 lakh), Arshin Kulkarni (₹30 lakh), Avesh Khan (₹9.75 crore), Akash Deep (₹8 crore), Shamar Joseph (₹75 lakh), Prince Yadav (₹30 lakh), Akash Singh (₹30 lakh), M. Siddharth (₹75 lakh), Digvesh Rathi (₹30 lakh), Mayank Yadav (₹11 crore), Mohsin Khan (₹4 crore), Ayush Badoni (₹4 crore)

(Note: Nothing is confirmed as of now, with the above article being an opinionated piece.)