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Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG) loss against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday, May 5, spoke volumes about how their season has been so far - two steps forward, one step back.
After an impressive win against the Mumbai Indians, LSG had the chance to push for a top-two spot by beating KKR. However, they didn't just lose the game but also got a bit hit to their net run rate, with the margin of defeat being 98 runs.
Inconsistency in batting and bowling has led to Lucknow depending heavily on the individual brilliance of the likes of Marcus Stoinis, and Nicholas Pooran & has put pressure on their Indian bowling core to deliver.
On that note, let's take a look at three players in particular whose form has hurt LSG this season:
#3 Krunal Pandya
Krunal Pandya has been an important part of LSG's leadership group and also led the team when KL Rahul was ruled out with an injury last year for the remainder of IPL 2023. However, his performances as a player have left a lot to be desired this time.
While one can argue that Krunal has faced just 59 balls so far this season, he has scored just 79 runs and hasn't quite had the impact that Lucknow needed from the finisher's role. The franchise too hasn't used him higher up the order.
Krunal has also picked up just five wickets at an economy rate of 7.63 and has often not been bowled by Rahul because of the match-up against the left hander. The lack of trust might also be a result of the inconsistent form from the all-rounder.
#2 Ravi Bishnoi
Ravi Bishnoi was in sensational form for India in the T20Is against Australia last year and also reached the pinnacle of the ICC T20I rankings among bowlers. However, the dip ever since both for the Men in Blue and in the IPL has been alarming, to say the least.
Bishnoi hasn't quite had the impact for Lucknow this season with the ball as he has bagged just seven wickets in 11 games and has been a tad on the expensive side with an economy rate of 8.50.The fact that he couldn't make his place in India's T20 World Cup squad might have had an impact on Bishnoi's confidence.
However, Lucknow need an uptick in form from their strike spinner at the business end of the tournament to ensure that they don't fall away from the playoffs race.
#1 Devdutt Padikkal
Devdutt Padikkal seemed to be out of place in his two seasons at the Rajasthan Royals and many felt that the trade move to the Lucknow Super Giants could be something that resurrects his career path. However, that wasn't to be as the southpaw finds himself in a similar situation.
Padikkal wasn't used as an opener by LSG as they continued with the likes of KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock at the top. He has been tried in the top four but it hasn't quite worked out once again. In six innings, the left-hander scored just 38 runs and finds himself out of the playing XI.
It took several games for LSG to identify Marcus Stoinis as their No. 3. Padikkal may not get another game for Lucknow this season and might well be released ahead of the next edition.
