The next team we will discuss about in the IPL Team Review is Lucknow Super Giants.
Lucknow Super Giants is among the 2 new teams introduced before 2022 IPL in order to expand the league. They had good 2022 and 2023 season where they qualified for playoffs as the number 3 team on the points table before loosing in eliminator and getting knocked out of the tournament. They were having a good tournament in 2024 as well as before flattering around in the later half of the tournament which led to a fallout between the then captain KL Rahul and Team Owner Sanjeev Goenka. The game against SRH at Uppal where the Head-Abhishek duo thrashed LSG bowlers all around the park will always be remembered as the turning point of the franchise. After this match Goenka scolded KL Rahul publicly which sparked a controversy and fans as well as critics debated about whether Goenka's behaviour with KL was appropriate or not. After lot of discussions and disagreements, LSG and KL Rahul parted ways. LSG went to the auction to create a fresh team with a lot of Indian youngsters. They made headlines when they bought Rishabh Pant for a record-breaking amount of 27 Crore and then they also announced him as their captain in a press conference in Kolkata? So, will Rishabh Pant lead Lucknow Super Giants to the glory?
Squad:
Playing 11:
Rishabh Pant(c & wk), Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav
Impact Player: Akash Deep/Shahbaz Ahmed
Batting
LSG have assembled a very wierd batting lineup with 3 attacking left-handers in the form of Rishabh Pant, Nicholas Pooran and David Miller with 2 talented youngsters in the form of Ayush Badoni and Abdul Samad along with these 5 batters, there is Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh. The reason why I called this batting lineup wierd is because there are 7 batters stacked 1 after another without having a proper structure and strategy in place. Let's analyze the phase-wise performance of the LSG batting lineup in the last 3 seasons of IPL.
Powerplay(1 - 6)
Scatter Plot for Powerplay Batting Performance
LSG have 3 potential opening pairs: Markram-Marsh, Pant-Marsh and Pant-Markram. The problem with all the 3 pairs is that none of the batters have enough sample size as an opening batter in the IPL. Pant opened in 4 games for Delhi Daredevils in 2016 and 6 games for India in 2022 in T20is without much success. Marsh opened in 2 games for Delhi Capitals in 2024 and 1 game for Australia in 2024 in T20is which is a very small sample size. Markram has zero experience as opener and this is the confirmed top-order of LSG which doesn't look strong. Pant scored 81 runs in 49 balls in powerplay in the last 3 seasons of IPL but all the runs came as a middle-order batter. Marsh scored 223 runs at a strike-rate of 140.25 in powerplay in last 3 seasons of IPL but only 43 runs out of 223 came as opener. Markram scored 99 runs in 107 balls in powerplay in the last 3 IPL seasons which is terrible to say the list. The ideal opening pair for LSG is Rishabh Pant and Mitchell Marsh with Aiden Markram at No.3.
Middle Overs(7 - 15)
This is the phase where LSG can excel as a batting unit and score runs. The main responsibility for scoring runs will be on Pant and Pooran supported by Markram, Miller and Badoni.
LSG batters in middle overs(IPL 2022-2024)
Pooran has been among the best and most destructive batters in T20 Cricket since 2023 and the above stats are a proof of it. Scoring 594 runs at a strike rate of 159.68 states the importance and impact of Nicholas Pooran in the LSG batting lineup. Rishabh Pant also has a huge role to play as he is the 2nd best batter in the LSG lineup in the middle overs. Though, these are the stats of Rishabh Pant as a middle order batter batting at No.4 and No.5 for Delhi Capitals, where he had to take some balls to get set, this time he will be well-set before the middle overs begin and the strike-rate of 134.59 in the previous IPL cycle will take a huge boost. I expect middle overs strike-rate of Pant to be above 140 in this season. Markram can be the anchor in this batting lineup, while Miller can take a few balls to get set in this phase before accelerating in the death overs. Miller's approach should also be followed by Badoni. Marsh and Samad don't have much role in this phase. The one threat to the LSG lineup in middle overs is off-spinners.
The above table shows that all the LSG batters have 1 main weakness i.e batting against off-spinners. Teams like CSK, PBKS, GT who have a good off-spinner can easily trouble this LSG batting lineup. Overall, LSG have a decent middle order who can bat through the middle overs phase.
Death Overs(16 - 20)
LSG batters in death-overs(IPL 2022-2024)
The above stats clearly show that, this is the actual phase where the LSG batting unit can be extremely dangerous. Miller is a proven match-winner and in the last 3 seasons with Gujarat Titans, he proved his worth as a finisher by finishing many matches for them, Samad and Badoni are still young and have a lot of potential to become great finishers. Shahbaz Ahmed can also score runs in the death. And a well-set Pooran or Pant is easily the biggest nightmare of a bowler. So, we can say that LSG have great finishers like Miller, Samad and Badoni to score crucial runs in the death overs.
Overall, LSG have a decent batting lineup with some great finishers but this batting lineup relies more on hope than planning and structure.
Bowling
LSG have assembled a kind of bowling attack which is a bit shocking considering the way in which most of the IPL teams plan. LSG have only 1 overseas pacer in the form of Shamar Joseph but they have invested in Indian Fast Bowlers like Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan and Akash Deep. On the spin bowling front, LSG have Ravi Bishnoi and Shahbaz Ahmed as their main spinners. Looking at this bowling unit, I can surely say that LSG will definitely regret letting go Krunal Pandya, Marcus Stoinis and Naveen-ul-Haq who used to provide variety and utility to the LSG bowling lineup. Let's see how this bowling unit looks phase-wise and how these bowlers have performed statistically in the last 3 years.
Powerplay(1 - 6)
The lead new ball bowler for LSG is going to be Mohsin Khan who brings a left-arm angle into the play and has taken 11 wickets in this phase at an economy of 7.95 in the last 3 seasons of IPL. The main issue is for his new-ball bowling partner. Akash Deep has bowled 8 overs in PP in the last 3 seasons and taken 3 wickets after conceding 74 but this is also because of 1 good spell against Mumbai Indians in Chinnaswamy in 2023, except which he has been taken to cleaners in the powerplay. Avesh Khan's new ball bowling skills are on a decline and the given starts are a proof of it:
The above chart shows the decline of Avesh Khan as a death bowler from being excellent in 2022 to being below average in 2023 and 2024. The increase in number of wickets in 2024 is because of the pressure created by Trent Boult at the other end. Moreover, Avesh is needed to bowl in middle and death so he should not bowl with the new ball. Mayank Yadav is an out-an-out hit the deck bowler and should bowl only in the middle and death overs. Shahbaz is not a reliable option to bowl in powerplay, whereas Bishnoi is needed more in the middle overs. So, currently Akash Deep is the best choice for new-ball bowling partner of Mohsin Khan.
Middle Overs(7 - 15)
The main responsibility for bowling in this phase lies on the shoulders of Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi and Avesh Khan. Mayank Yadav is an out-an-out hit the deck bowler, who impressed everyone with his raw pace in IPL 2024. Bishnoi is an excellent leggie and has taken 28 wickets at an economy of 7.76 in this phase in the last 3 seasons of IPL which is just excellent. For context, he has the same number of wickets as Rashid Khan but at a slightly higher economy. Avesh Khan is the 3rd highest wicket-taker among pacers in this phase with 13 wickets at an economy of 8.56 in the last 3 seasons of IPL. These 3 bowlers along with Shahabaz, Mohsin and Akash Deep as per situations, conditions and match-ups.
Death Overs(16 - 20)
The main death bowler of LSG is Avesh Khan who has taken 22 wickets at an economy of 9.81 in this phase in last 3 seasons of IPL. He is joint 4th highest wicket-taker in death among pacers and his economy of 9.81 is better than the likes of T Natarajan, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Andre Russel. Mayank Yadav can bowl and over or 2 in this phase to bully opposition batters in this phase. Ravi Bishnoi is the ideal choice to bowl the 16th over who has 11 wickets at an economy of 10.66 in the death. So, death-bowling of LSG is heavily dependent on Avesh Khan.
Overall, LSG have a decent bowling lineup which has a lot of potential and upcoming superstars but it needs to be used and handled well.
Strengths:
1. PPM trio: PPM means Pant-Pooran-Miller. This batting trio is very dangerous and can be the game changer for LSG. The most important thing to know is the batting actually revolves around this 3 with Rishabh at top, Pooran in the middle and Miller in the death overs. For LSG to thrive all the 3 batters need to perform at their absolute best as the remaining LSG batters are either young and inexperienced or unreliable T20 batters.
2. Young Indian Core: LSG have many youngsters like Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Akash Deep, Shahbaz Ahmed along with 27 year old Rishabh Pant and 28 year old Avesh Khan. If some of these players turn out to be match-winners in future and stay with LSG, LSG can be one of the best IPL teams in future, but LSG needs to be patient with their youngsters and groom them properly.
Concerns:
1. Lack of experienced opener: LSG don't have an experienced opener. None of Pant, Marsh and Markram have enough experience of batting as an opener but these 3 batters are the sureshot top order of LSG with 2 of them being the opener.
2. Spin-bowling partner for Ravi Bishnoi: Ravi Bishnoi will have a huge responsibility on his shoulders this time around as he will have to carry the entire load of LSG spin-bowling as this time LSG lack a star spinner alongside Bishnoi unlike last time where they had Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi bowling in tandem. This time Shahbaz Ahmed has replaced Krunal Pandya as the spin-bowling all-rounder but Shahbaz lacks the experience as well as street-smart cricketing sense of Krunal as a bowler. Even Shahbaz will play only a limited amount of games as LSG need Akash Deep for new-ball bowling.
3. Injury-prone bowling attack: LSG pacers have a lot of potential but they are very injury prone as well. Mayank Yadav couldn't play more than 3 matches in previous season because of injury. Mohsin Khan has an injury history as well, same goes for Akash Deep. If 2 of the 4 lead pacers get injured at any point during the tournament, it will be tough for LSG bowling unit to survive the season.
4. Lack of 6th bowling option: LSG don't have a reliable 6th bowling option unless they give Shahbaz Ahmed a permanent spot in their playing 11 instead of using him as impact player.
Home: Ekana Stadium, Lucknow
Ekana pitch is considered as a slow and sluggish wicket and we also got to see many low-scoring games on this stadium in last 2 seasons. This stadium also witnessed some high-scoring games as well. There are actually 2 main pitches in Ekana, one is a batting friendly wicket while the other one is a slow pitch. Given the kind of squad, LSG has assembled, they should ask the pitch curator to make a belter of a pitch to support their batters.
Combination for Away Games:
In venues like Wankhede, Eden, Motera and Chinnaswamy, LSG should play 4 pacers + Ravi Bishnoi as their bowling attack, whereas on sluggish wickets like Chepauk, Kotla and Uppal, Shahbaz Ahmed should replace Akash Deep. Shahbaz Ahmed should also play in matches where the batting collapses, he can be very valuable as a batter in those games.
Conclusion: Overall, LSG have a decent squad with a young Indian core but they are not one of the title contenders or strong playoffs contender for the 2025 season. If the young guns punch above their weights with PPM having extra-ordinary season, LSG can have a decent to good season.
Comments
Post a Comment