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Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) were down and out of the game but Mohammed Shami’s last-ball six off Kartik Tyagi took the game to super over. LSG had a chance to win against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) but their think tank committed a blunder. They sent Nicholas Pooran to bat against Sunil Narine in the super over. Well, history of the format says that there has been just maiden super over. It was Narine to Pooran in Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2014. While LSG can be discounted of knowing that fact, Pooran has been in poor form, scoring just 82 runs from eight innings. But, LSG sent him to face his countryman anyway. Result? First-ball, a blind slog and Pooran getting bowled for a golden duck. LSG ended up losing the match they almost snatched from KKR’s grasp. At the post-match press conference, everyone was ready with the question around Pooran. LSG head coach Justin Langer didn’t admit the mistake but ended up calling the Caribbean southpaw their ‘best option’ for the super over.
"Good question. We knew that Sunil Narine had bowled it, and if you look at Nicky's record, he's seen Sunil Narine more than anyone in world cricket. So we felt that he was still the best option," Langer told the reporters.
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"I know he hasn't hit his form yet, and Nicky will be the first to admit that, but we thought if anyone can handle a Super Over, it's Nicky Pooran. You back your best players, right? That's what you do. So he has struggled, but if you look at all the numbers, no one plays Sunil Narine, the world-class off-spinner, better than Nicky. It didn't come off, unfortunately," he added.
‘We’re working every day with him’
LSG's Pooran is going through his worst IPL season. Losing the no.3 spot in the lineup to skipper Rishabh Pant hasn't worked in his favour either. As LSG refuse to replace him with South Africa's Matthew Breetzke, Langer said that the former West Indies wicketkeeper-batter is working hard to regain form.
"There's probably no greater T20 player currently in the world over the last few years. It just goes to show he's human, and you can't fake confidence. We all try to. You can look confident, but confidence comes from getting your processes right. We're working every day with him, and he is working very hard to get it back. Sometimes this is a tough game, cricket. My gosh, it's a tough game," he said.
But, the results haven’t gone LSG’s way. They have lost six games out of eight, including four at home. Now, they find themselves at the bottom of the points table with worst net run rate (NRR) among all 10 teams. They will have plenty of time to regroup as LSG’s next game is on May 4 against Mumbai Indians (MI) at Wankhede Stadium.
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