“Not everything you see is the true story, here’s the unfiltered post match vibes, when cameras don’t cut,” Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), the IPL franchise, wrote on X. LSG accompanied the caption with a video that showed the team captain Rishabh Pant walking up to the franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka and team’s support staff as the group appeared in high spirits despite registering a loss in their opening IPL 2026 encounter against Delhi Capitals (DC) at Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Wednesday.
What’s the problem, you may ask?
Indian cricket fans, who have been closely following the IPL and tracking the continued backlash against Mr Goenka, aren’t buying the “stunt” allegedly performed for the optics. For they believe all was not well in paradise,
and LSG could be engaging in a damage control exercise.
All Is Well?
LSG, in a viral video posted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on April 2, assured there was no squabble between LSG captain Rishabh Pant and the franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka. In fact, all was well between the duo, as LSG captured visuals of the captain-owner sharing smiles and light-hearted moments after the match against Delhi on Wednesday.
Not everything you see is the true story, here’s the unfiltered post match vibes, when cameras don’t cut. pic.twitter.com/EiPMWrmlkQ
— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) April 2, 2026
LSG’s Video Gets A Community Note
X allows its users to add context to a post. A widely circulated piece of content that readers may find misleading, false, or potentially harmful can be flagged with a clear warning label to alert new viewers and help curb the spread of misinformation on the platform. Unfortunately for LSG, an army of IPL fans almost instantly submitted a “context” they deemed appropriate to Lucknow’s video, stating that the franchise and the owner were allegedly attempting to diffuse the controversy by sharing a manufactured perspective.
“Shri Goyenka [Goenka] is trying to wash his sins by posting videos taken post the incident. When spat occurred there was crowd. In This video there is no crowd which means Rishab Pant was called back to recreate the scene like Drishayam 2 Oct (sic),” the Community Note of LSG’s viral video tweet read.
What Are The IPL Fans Saying?
Apparently a lot. A classic case of the Streisand Effect, there were more eyes and attention on LSG now.
You can't fool us pic.twitter.com/p2L6wWVyEF
— Maxi (@Maxi_targaryen) April 2, 2026
Another X user shared the original video of the heated chat between the franchise owner and captain, while accusing LSG of shooting a follow-up video in a similar setting to suggest the original footage that courted online pushback lacked context and that confrontation or animated talk between the duo was the half-truth.
public ko pagal samajhate ho kya viral video me peeche boundry wale advertising board me angleone fir rupay fir google fir kingfisher ka ad aa raha tha tumhare wale video me kingfisher ka ad kyu nahi hai?pic.twitter.com/npakuuGwaw
— Dr Kaju Katli (@drkajukatli) April 2, 2026
LSG needs to pay 54 cr to Rishabh Pant.
27 cr for cricket
27 cr for acting https://t.co/rF4ePhPDtx— Sagar (@sagarcasm) April 2, 2026
“Made Pant come back and re record this. Was the ground really this empty in the post match coverage?” questioned another.
Sanjiv Goenka-Rishabh Pant Captured In An Animated Chat
Facing Delhi Capitals (DC) in their maiden outing, Lucknow were bundled out for 141, with top scores coming from Abdul Samad (36) and Mitchell Marsh (35). DC almost fumbled their run chase, struggling at 26 for 4 at one stage, before recovering and sealing a six-wicket win. Sameer Rizvi’s unbeaten 70* off 47 (5 fours, 4 maximums) helped Delhi Capitals achieve the target with 17 deliveries to spare.
Sanjiv Goenka and team have an animated chat with Pant after the match
by
u/QuickLaw5338 in
IndiaCricket
After their loss to DC, Goenka was seen having a word with his support staff and captain Pant, a moment that reminded IPL fans of the LSG owner’s fiery chat with former Lucknow skipper KL Rahul.
Was Pant facing a similar dressing down as Rahul? Many wondered. Several observers have raised questions about Goenka’s conduct, particularly his decision to publicly reprimand his captains in what many perceived as unprofessional and unsporting.
Rahul, who captained LSG for three seasons before being ignored by the franchise in the IPL 2025 auction, revealed that the infamous incident of Goenka battering him in public after the team’s humiliating loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad affected the entire Lucknow team’s morale and dampened their spirits.
