Lucknow Super Giants suffered another loss in the IPL 2026, as they failed to chase mammoth 255 in their clash against Punjab Kings on Sunday, April 19. The game was played at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium.
Mohit Sharma lambasts LSG's strategy
During the chase, many fans and experts called out LSG's team management for changing their opening combination for the second time in the tournament. The Rishabh Pant-led side sent Ayush Badoni in place of South Africa's Aiden Markram to open the innings with Mitchell Marsh. However, Badoni managed to play a quick 21 ball 35 which LSG put 61 runs inside the powerplay, before losing wicket to Vijaykumar Vyshak.
Als
The call to send Ayush Badoni ahead of Aiden Markram did not settle well with the former India cricketer Mohit Sharma, as he felt this was a disastrous move from the Lucknow based franchise.
After the game in an interaction with Cricbuzz, Mohit Sharma said that LSG shouldn't have changed their opening combination in big run chase like this, as Aiden Markram is going through a fine form and he could have helped the side to reach 80-90 runs in the powerplay.
"It is only your sixth match, and you have already rotated your openers 3-4 times. Today, they went with Badoni alongside Mitchell Marsh. No doubt Badoni did well, but was he your best choice while chasing 255? The kind of form that Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram were in, that was the best chance for LSG to score 80-90 runs in the powerplay," Mohit Sharma said on Cricbuzz.
Aiden Markram's demotion in batting order
While chasing 255, Aiden Markram came out to bat at No.5 and managed to score a quick fire knock of 42 runs off 22 balls at a strike rate of 190.91, including three sixes and three fours. But, it wasn't enough as LSG lost the game by a whopping 54 runs. This could be the first time Markram was demoted at No.5 in his playing career so far.