Former Indian spinner Murali Kartik criticised Lucknow Super Giants’ batting after Rishabh Pant’s team suffered a five-wicket loss against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, on Wednesday.
LSG was bowled out for 146 runs as once again their top order failed to deliver the goods. None of the LSG batters could convert their starts and the visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Thus, they could not find any impetus throughout their innings.
Kartik said LSG doesn’t have batting depth in their squad for the ongoing IPL 2026.
He said on Cricbuzz, “They have nothing much in the reserves, too. They have Himmat Singh, who is more of a hitter, and Akshat Raghuwanshi, who has some pedigree. But after that, they can get Justin Langer (head coach) to come out and bat. It’s getting tougher for them, though.”
The former left-orthodox spinner added that LSG will have to figure out how they can get Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran back in form.
He added, “Some switch needs to be flicked where these batters, who were your lynchpins last year, click. How can Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran get a semblance of form? Especially Pooran, who is looking woefully out of touch.”
Kartik praised RCB veteran batter Virat Kohli, who scored a match-winning knock of 49 runs off just 34 balls in the run chase of 147.
“Nobody needs to be told how good Virat Kohli is in a chase. He has everything mapped out beautifully like a microprocessor. He got runs in the last game, but not at the clip he wanted. That’s why you saw this time around, he was trying to boss and stamp his authority over the bowlers. If Phil Salt gets going, he and Virat are as dangerous as others. They are different in their approach, but are still going to hurt you,” said Kartik (via the aforementioned source).
“When you think of Virat Kohli in a run-chase, there are ebbs and flows. There is never a constant upward take off or the other way around. He knows when to respect the bowlers and when to take them on in spurts. He understands those ebbs and flows, and that’s why he has been the chase master over the years.”
Lucknow Super Giants will next take on Punjab Kings at New Chandigarh on Sunday.
