After a long break, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) reworked their batting order for the clash against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. Nicholas Pooran finally returned to his old position, the no.3 role and excelled at it. Pooran brushed off poor form as he whacked 8 sixes in his whirlwind 21-ball 63. Following him, skipper Rishabh Pant wasn’t at his best and was dismissed cheaply. After the game, LSG head coach Justin Langer revealed that Pant moved down the order to give Pooran the no.3 role. Langer also revealed that Pant was in good form in the practice match a couple of days ago, scoring 95 runs but couldn’t replicate it against MI.
“Well, it’s funny how we played a practice game here two days ago, and Rishabh, I think he got… I’m not sure the exact final score, maybe 95 off 40 balls or 30 balls or something,” Langer said.
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“And you’re just looking at it again, and you go, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s Rishabh Pant at his very best.’ So, you know, he’s a very good player; we know that. We’ve seen him in Test cricket destroy teams at number five.
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“And we felt today, with that and the way he played just two days ago after a seven-day break, that might be a good option for the team. He selflessly moved down the order to let Nicky P bat – that was unbelievable.
“Rishabh’s not far off. As a captain in the IPL, as a coach, you’ve got to keep fronting up, don’t you? That’s all you can do. And he’ll keep fronting up and hopefully help us get some wins over the next few games,” the former Australian opener added.
LSG stay at bottom, to face RCB next
After MI chased down the target of 229 with six wickets in hand and as many balls to spare, LSG stayed at the bottom of the points table. LSG have the worst net run rate (NRR) in the ongoing season after seven losses from nine games. Their next game is against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at home on May 7.