Former Indian batter Krisnamachari Srikkanth tore apart the Lucknow Super Giants team after the IPL franchise sunk to another loss, seeing Royal Challengers Bengaluru chase down their target inside 15 overs in a one-sided contest that exposed the gulf in quality between the squads.
LSG’s strength – their top order batting and new-ball bowling – both fell flat in the match, as the issues with an out-of-form lineup including Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran flattered to deceive yet again. Speaking on YouTube, Srikkanth didn’t hold back.
First off, Srikkanth predicted that captain Rishabh Pant would be done for the season, after looking in immense pain after being hit in the ribs by a Josh Hazlewood short ball. Pant had to retire hurt – and that makes a struggling LSG batting lineup look even more threadbare.
“LSG batted horribly, and it was unwatchable… Rishabh Pant doesn’t look like he’ll play the rest of the season. LSG are a horrendous side. Only their bowling is pretty good. But it’s been five matches now, and their batting doesn’t look like it’ll fire at all,” said Srikkanth, not hesitating from making his opinion heard.
“They do well in one match and fail the next. They have a good bowling lineup, but they don’t combine as a team,” criticised Srikkant.
‘Better for support staff to play’
In particular, he took issue with the composition of the team, pointing out the lack of depth in their batting unit – although Abdul Samad and Mukul Chaudhary have been impressive in bits and pieces, they don’t have the stability of teams like RCB in that part of the order.
“They are sending Ayush Badoni at No.5 and thinking they can win matches that way. They have no batting after No.4,” said Srikkanth.
The outspoken former cricketer also took aim at the size of LSG’s dugout, where they have plenty of big name coaches, but are struggling to find results despite that. He said that the team might even be better served if the coaching staff donned the jersey and headed out onto the playing field instead: “LSG seems to have 10 coaches. It might be better for them if their support staff play in the 11.”
LSG are certainly not out of the running – they have four points from five games, but have looked off the pace in the last two matches, chastening losses to GT and CSK. They will be keen to put things right sooner rather than later.
