Lucknow made it to the playoffs in its very first season. (IPL Photo)
LSG match review: Lucknow did better than expected in its first season but there were some shortcomings which the team will try its best to remove next season and will try its best to win the title.
Two new teams landed in the 15th season of the Indian Premier League. One of these was Gujarat Titans, which would play the final and the other team was Lucknow Super Giants, who were eliminated after losing in the Eliminator match. Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Lucknow in the match played at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata on Wednesday. In this match, Lucknow had to bear the brunt of many strategic mistakes along with its poor fielding. Bangalore batsman Rajat Patdir scored a brilliant century in this match but before that the players of Lucknow gave him life. The catches of Dinesh Karthik were also dropped. Then Lucknow captain KL Rahul got out in the 19th over and Lucknow got defeated. With this defeat, his first IPL season ended and now let’s look at the entire journey of Lucknow.
Poor fielding on the field was the concern of this team but apart from this there were some other problems from which Lucknow could not get rid of the whole season and will try to make up for it in the next season. No one can ignore the fact that Lucknow’s team played strong cricket and on this basis it reached the playoffs. Yes, in the last few matches of the league stage, this team had lost its way, due to which it reached number three without being at number two.
Lack of good batsman at number-3
When Lucknow made its team in the IPL mega auction, it was one of those teams which seemed to have its playing-11 ready. Manish Pandey seemed to be an option for this team for number-3. The team also gave him chances in the initial matches. But they failed and then Lucknow could not make up for this position. The number-3 slot was a matter of concern for him throughout the season.
weak middle order
If Lucknow’s batting is seen, then it depended on captain KL Rahul and his opening partner Quinton de Kock. Deepak Hooda supported both of them. Apart from these three, none of the Lucknow batsmen could impress and the team’s middle order struggled throughout the season. The kind of performance expected from Marcus Stoinis, he could not do that and Krunal Pandya was also not effective. Here, the team management of Lucknow will definitely pay attention and next year they will pick strong players from the middle order.
bowling is strong
However, Lucknow’s bowling was good and also a big reason for the team’s victory. Avesh Khan made a good comeback after the initial matches and showed a strong game. Ravi Bishnoi could not take many wickets this season. He took 13 wickets in 14 matches. His performance was average. In the form of Mohsin Khan, the team got such a bowler who can be of great use for the team in the coming seasons. His wavy balls have troubled many batsmen. Apart from this, Jason Holder and Dushmanta Chamira also showed a strong game. Apart from Ravi, Krunal Pandya also did an impressive job with his spin.
gave confidence to the players
One of the reasons behind the success of Lucknow’s team in the very first season was its team management. The team has a mentor in the form of Gautam Gambhir who has the experience of winning the IPL twice. He knows how to make players. An example of this is Deepak Hooda. This has been Hooda’s best IPL so far. This season he scored 451 runs in 15 matches and during this his average was 32.21. He scored runs at a strike rate of 136.67. This season Deepak has crossed the fifty mark four times. Apart from Deepak, there are some examples of relentless faith in Mohsin Khan and Ravi Bishnoi.
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