What went wrong for Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2023?
Lucknow Super Giants have been knocked out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 after suffering a humiliating 81-run defeat versus Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator. It was a mixed season for LSG as they put up some comprehensive performances and finished third in the league stage. However, there were also many loopholes in their campaign. Here we decode what went wrong for them.
KL Rahul's reluctance at the top
LSG's regular skipper KL Rahul, who was ruled out midway through the tournament due to a hamstring injury, smoked 274 runs in the nine games he played. Though the volume of runs is decent, his strike rate of 113.22 did not really help the team. No other batter with at least 250 runs this season has a strike rate below 128.
Indian batters not stepping up
LSG's batting was heavily dependent on their overseas stars like Kyle Mayers, Nicholas Pooran, and Marcus Stoinis. While the trio stepped up, the Indian batters could not impress much. Besides Rahul, only Prerak Mankad and Ayush Badoni were the only Indian batters with a fifty this season. Both scored one apiece. Krunal Pandya (188 runs) and Deepak Hooda's (84 runs) failures largely hurt them.
A fragile Indian pace attack
Avesh Khan and Mohsin Khan's heroics were instrumental to LSG's success last season. However, the duo looked nowhere at their best this season, conceding runs at over 9.5 apiece. Though Yash Thakur impressed with 13 wickets in nine games, his economy was 9.07. Notably, the heavy overseas batting line-up meant LSG could only field one of Naveen-ul-Haq and Mark Wood.
Struggles while chasing
Five of LSG's six defeats (combined group stage and playoffs) this season have come while chasing scores. They have only prevailed thrice in this regard. Only Delhi Capitals (7) have suffered more defeats while chasing. The Super Giants often succumbed under pressure, struggling to cope with the scoring rate. The same hurt them in the Eliminator as well.
A look at the positives
Stoinis smothered 408 runs this season besides scalping five wickets. Pooran's strike rate (172.95) is the fourth-best among batters with at least 350 runs this season. Mayers smoked 379 runs, striking at 144.10. Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi returned with 16 wickets (ER: 7.74). Overseas pacers Naveen-ul-Haq and Mark Wood were impressive, claiming 11 wickets apiece. Badoni smashed 238 runs, striking at 138.37.
