Lucknow Super Giants cricketer Nicholas Pooran. (FILE photo)Lucknow Super Giants at the start of the season looked like the promising team to make the playoffs; however, in the last few games before the break, due to tensions between India and Pakistan, the side has been on a downward spiral. The poor results have also coincided with Nicholas Pooran’s poor form after starting the season we.
“The biggest blow has been Pooran going out of form. Lucknow was continuously winning matches when Pooran was playing. Their problems have increased after Pooran’s bat went silent. Since the time the bowlers have come up with the tactic to bowl full and get him out lbw or bowled, it has become a huge cause for concern,” Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif analyzed on Star Sports.
“Pooran was winning matches single-handedly at the start, although Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh also played well. In the first half, Nicholas Pooran was hitting sixes no matter where you bowled the ball, and he has an average of 12 in the second half. He has been able to score only 61 runs in his last five innings,” the former India batter added.
In addition to Pooran’s dip in form, one more concerning thing for the LSG has been skipper Rishabh Pant, who is having a season to forget so far. “We have to recognise that he’s still yet to totally understand the white-ball game – both formats, 50-over cricket as well as T20 cricket. A fabulous Test match batter, make no mistake about it, but here in this particular season, what I noticed is that he got out a number of times looking to play shots behind the wicket,” said former Indian cricketer Sanjay Bangar.
In 11 games thus far, Pant has scored 128 runs at an average of 12.80. “If you do look to score down the ground a lot of times, then all those other areas open up. But if you’re only looking to score behind, then whatever is in front of you, you sort of are very much late and not in a great position to play,” Bangar said. “Now, you pull out the best innings of Rishabh – where has he looked to score the runs? Drives through covers, step down the track and try to hit the sightscreen or go over midwicket, square. But here he was trying to play those reverse sweeps or shots that are very fine. So as a batter, I think probably he just got caught in that confusion and forgot that his best game, or that he plays at his best, is when he’s looking to score down the ground,” he added.
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