“Goenkas love keeper-batters, until they don’t,” one of the fans tweeted. That statement came after Sanjiv Goenka-owned Lucknow Super Giants broke banks for Rishabh Pant, paying a whopping Rs 27 Crore. LSG made another keeper-batter their prime target after the bitter split with KL Rahul. In 2017, Goenkas had a tiff with MS Dhoni. At Rising Pune Supergiant, one of the two franchises which replaced suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, Dhoni led the team in 2016. But Sanjiv Goenka-owned RPSG sacked him after a poor season.
However, it was Harsh Goenka’s tweet that made all the headlines. Rishabh Pant will now become the third entrant of Goenka Splitsvilla. The youngster and likely captain will have the challenge to win over the Goenkas. And he must learn from his two predecessors MS Dhoni and KL Rahul.
MS Dhoni-Goenka saga
MS Dhoni had a tough time in 2016. He was under a media scanner after CSK were banned for IPL fixing scandal. Then, despite coming with a big reputation, Dhoni’s leadership did not help matters at RPSG. The team finished 7th in an 8-team tournament in 2016 with just five wins.
After just a year, he was unceremoniously sacked from captaincy with Steve Smith replacing him in 2017. Sanjiv Goenka even informed the media that Dhoni did not step down. In fact, he was sacked. A captain who won India three ICC titles became just a squad player.
“Dhoni has not stepped down. We have appointed Steve Smith as the skipper for the upcoming season. Frankly speaking, we did not have a good last season. We wanted someone young to lead the side and revamp it ahead of the upcoming season 10,” Sanjiv Goenka told PTI.
Things took another turn when Harsh Goenka, Sanjiv Goenka’s brother, tweeted mid-season, taking a dig at Dhoni.
The rift came out in the open when Dhoni’s wife Sakshi Dhoni posted a cryptic message, hitting back at Goenka’s tweet three days later.
“When a bird is alive, it eats ants. When the bird is dead, ants eat the bird. Time and circumstances can change at any time. Don’t devalue or hurt anyone in life. You may be powerful today, but remember, time is more powerful than you. One tree makes a million match sticks but only one match is needed to burn a million trees. So be good and do good,” her post accompanied an image of her in a CSK jersey.
KL Rahul saga
KL Rahul followed a similar path. He too joined the Goenka-owned franchise as a superstar with the new team Lucknow Super Giants, signing a pre-auction agreement of Rs 17 Crore. Despite initial success, KL Rahul’s poor run of form and, more importantly, his sluggish strike rate did not impress the Goenkas.
The Karnataka lad looked clueless as a captain when LSG failed to chase down 136 from 105/1 against Gujarat Titans. Even though Rahul was on the crease, LSG failed to score 31 off the last 36 balls. After the match, KL Rahul said, “I don’t know how this happened and it has happened so fast.”
The first signs of rift appeared with the keeper-batter captain. In IPL 2024, it was in a public forum when Sanjiv Goenka was seen having an animated chat with KL Rahul after LSG lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad. SRH blew LSG away, chasing down 166 in just 9.4 overs.
“Whatever happened on the field after the game wasn’t the nicest thing to be part of or something that anyone wants to see on the cricket field. So yeah, I think it did affect the entire group,” KL Rahul told on Star Sports about the incident later.
At the IPL 2025 retention, Sanjiv Goenka took an indirect dig at KL Rahul. “It was a simple mindset to go in for players, who have a mindset to win, who put the team before their personal goals and personal aspirations,” Goenka said.
Uncharted territory for Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant will enter an uncharted territory in IPL 2025. So far, he has enjoyed the support of the owners, and the coaching staff since making his IPL debut in 2016 as a teenager. Sourav Ganguly, Ricky Ponting and Pravin Amre shielded him from most of the criticism. Parth Jindal, co-owner of DC, backed him to succeed Shreyas Iyer as the captain. Ganguly, Ponting and Amre witnessed his journey from a teenage sensation to a mature cricketer.
But now, Rishabh Pant will enter IPL with the pressure of the price tag. He will need to make decisions on his own even though he will have the backing of Justin Langer and Zaheer Khan. He will be in a new work environment with a demanding boss who will not refrain from having a chat in front of a camera.
However, Pant will have one of the strongest teams on paper in IPL 2025. With experienced campaigners like Nicholas Pooran, David Miller, Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram, Pant will have a good start. But he will need to produce results quickly.
