There is a rule in modern crisis communications that every communications professional worth their salt knows by heart: when you are already in a hole, stop digging. Lucknow Super Giants, it appears, did not get the memo.
When cameras caught owner Sanjiv Goenka in an animated, finger-pointing exchange with captain Rishabh Pant on the boundary line following LSG’s six-wicket defeat to Delhi Capitals, the footage spread across social media with the ferocity only a cricket controversy can muster.
Fans quickly interpreted the clip as a public dressing-down of the captain, reigniting criticism of Goenka’s past behaviour and triggering widespread debate about whether such discussions should remain behind closed doors rather than unfold in front of cameras and spectators.
LSG’s response? A counter-video, posted on their official X handle, showing Goenka hugging Pant and sharing what appeared to be a lighter moment. The caption read: “Not everything you see is the true story, here’s the unfiltered post-match vibes, when cameras don’t cut.”
It was, by any measure, a bold attempt at narrative correction. It was also, by almost every measure, a spectacular own goal.
The clarification video failed to silence critics, with fans continuing to question why the initial discussion appeared so intense on the field, and many mocking the franchise’s attempts to protect the image of the owner while pointing out inconsistencies in the timing and setting of the footage. One particularly biting fan comment summed up the collective mood: “LSG needs to pay 54 crore to Rishabh Pant. 27 crore for cricket, 27 crore for acting.”
The post-match hug, rather than closing the chapter, opened a new one.
The reason the blowback hit so hard is that this is not Goenka’s first rodeo. In 2024, when KL Rahul captained LSG, Goenka was seen in an equally intense chat with him after the team’s crushing 10-wicket defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad. It was an exchange that became one of the most talked-about moments of that season. Pattern recognition is a powerful thing, and the internet has an excellent memory.
Into the fray walked IPL founder Lalit Modi, who rarely passes up an opportunity for drama. Modi called Goenka “a complete pompous clown” and a “loser and joker of the highest order,” adding that had he still been IPL chairman and commissioner, he would have banned Goenka immediately and stripped him of franchise ownership.
In a follow-up post, Modi described the incident as a “material breach” and said the only way out was a global ban from cricket. Former England captain Michael Vaughan had earlier pointed out that there was simply “no need for this” after just the first game of the tournament.
There is a deeper irony at play here. Goenka paid a king’s ransom to sign Rishabh Pant, presumably to make LSG must-watch television. In a sense, that mission has been accomplished. Unfortunately for the franchise, the spectacle has nothing to do with what happens between the wickets.
The LSG PR machinery wanted to rewrite a story. Instead, it handed the internet a sequel.
