File photo of Sanjiv Goenka© X (Twitter)
Lucknow Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka opened up about the trolled that he faced following his team’s poor performances in the recent IPL seasons. LSG reached the playoffs in their first two seasons before finishing 7th in 2024 as well as 2025. Goenka said that he did not understand social media in the past and even claimed that he became a punching bag for fans whenever the team lost. He even admitted to making mistakes when it comes to team building and said that they did not have the squad to compete for the title last year. However, he completely dismissed any doubts over Rishabh Pant‘s captaincy.
“Look, what will any captain do when he does not have his four main bowlers. You have to look at it from what he had. I personally have great confidence on Rishabh. I know you people say Rishabh will be there or not. I see and laugh. I feel some social media sites need views. Sanjeev Goenka becomes a very happy and convenient punching bag. I don’t know the reason. Your team is popular. Look, I understand 2-5% of social media. I don’t understand 90%. So I don’t know what the reason is. But Sanjiv Goenka is a punching bag. It happens over a period of time. I live with my conscience. I live with myself. And I am a very secure person in my own skin,” Goenka said in an interaction with Sports Tak.
“So I when I make a mistake, I openly admit I made a mistake. Last year we didn’t have the team to even make a challenge for the trophy. Our team was not there. There were a lot of mistakes. Mistakes in auctions. Mistakes in preparation. This year we have tried to plug those mistakes. We have realized what comfort a balanced squad gives. People say 8 crores for Josh Inglis is crazy. Now, would you take Pathirana at 18 crores or Nortje at 2 crores? So, taking Nortje at 2 gives me the ability to take Inglis 2 players in 10 minutes. Exactly. Getting Markram and Mitch Marsh to open. For both, it was a breakout season. The best season ever. Mitch Marsh had a total of 700 runs in IPL. Last year he made 600 runs,” he added.
Goenka also claimed that the trolling on social media has been a learning experience for him and admitted that it happened mostly due to his mistake. He even said that some of his statements were misinterpreted in the past and he should have made more efforts to communicate better.
Yes, we have been bashed. Our management team tells me. Not always. I mean, it’s also a learning. Because clearly, you are going wrong somewhere. Or misinterpretation. You are not communicating properly. Something is going wrong somewhere. Because people, some are paid trolls. Some are vested trolls. But some are genuine. So somewhere, we are not communicating our point of view effectively enough. Certain things may be misinterpreted, misrepresented. But why didn’t I communicate? Did anyone stop me? So we have to learn. And if there is a mistake, one has to stand up, own up and say, sorry, it was a mistake. It will not happen again. It’s as simple as that. Until you recognize it, you will not move on and you will not grow. It is true for an individual. It is true for an organization. It is true for a team. We are learning. We are learning the cricket thing. We will learn. And we will learn everyday,” Goenka concluded.