IPL 2026: Reports - LSG likely to part ways with Zaheer Khan, new mentor to have extra responsibilities

If reports are to be believed, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are looking to bid farewell to their mentor Zaheer Khan ahead of the 2026 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Zaheer replaced Gautam Gambhir as LSG's mentor and also took up the role of the team's bowling coach after Morne Morkel became a part of India's support staff.

The Super Giants made it to the playoffs in IPL 2022 and 2023. These were their first two seasons in the league. However, in IPL 2024 and 2025, LSG finished seventh in the standings.

Ahead of this season, LSG acquired the services of Rishabh Pant for a record INR 27 crore in the IPL 2025 mega-auction. The star wicketkeeper-batter replaced KL Rahul as the captain of the side. However, fortunes didn't change for the Lucknow-based franchise. They were inconsistent in IPL 2025, eventually finishing the league with six wins and eight defeats from 14 matches.

"LSG is set to part ways with Zaheer Khan, and the new mentor will be given a bigger role to monitor RPSG Group's other franchises," a source tracking the development confirmed to TimesofIndia.com.

The same report states that LSG's owner, Sanjiv Goenka, who is currently in the United Kingdom for The Hundred, will announce a Director of Cricket, who will supervise the year-round development of LSG's other franchises -- Durban Super Giants in the SA20 and Manchester Originals in The Hundred.

From 2018 to 2022, Zaheer had been involved with the Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise, initially serving as Director of Cricket before taking on the position of head of global development. During his tenure, Mumbai won the title in 2019 and 2020 under Rohit Sharma's captaincy.

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Two weeks ago, LSG brought Bharat Arun on board as their new bowling coach. The 62-year-old has extensive experience working as a bowling coach with the Indian team before joining the three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders in a similar role.