Anshul Kamboj had a day to forget at the Ekana Stadium against Lucknow Super Giants. The CSK pacer came in as a bowler to compete with Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the Purple Cap but looked very ordinary in his effort against LSG, scoring 63 runs off just 16 balls.
LSG vs CSK, IPL 2026: Highlights | Scorecard
This included two separate instances where the pacemaker was hit for four consecutive sixesfirst by Mitchell Marsh and then by Nicholas Pooran. On his YouTube channel, former Indian captain and selector Kris Srikkanth pointed out the exact moment when Kamboj lost the plot.
Srikkanth criticized Kamboja’s planning for trying to bowl a short delivery against Marsh. Then he said that on the third ball of the over, the CSK pacer looked scared and fear was creeping into his mind and he kept making the same mistake again and again.
“What ball did he bowl first? A short length delivery. Against the Aussies if you bowl short they will punish you badly. Marsh smashed the first ball over covers for a six. Remember that shot? Then Kamboj bowled short, tried to bounce and Marsh pulled him over square leg for another six.”
“From the third ball, if you watch the slow-motion replay carefully, you can see it in Kamboj’s run-up itself. After those first two sixes, he got scared. The fear crept in immediately and he bowled shorter and shorter from there,” Srikkanth said.
WHAT CSK MUST DO
Srikkanth agreed that Kamboj was not bowling at the time and CSK should have persevered with Mukul Choudhary and Spencer Johnson looking impressive early in the match.
The former India coach said that CSK should continue to bowl well and in Test lengths of matches and continued with the left-arm pace.
“Look at Spencer Johnson – he got hit in the final too. But Kamboj’s figures? 2.4 runs, 63 runs. That’s 63 runs from just 16 balls. He averaged almost four runs a ball. Compare that with Mukesh Choudhary, who bowled well despite the onslaught that came at the other end.”
“What CSK should have done was simple: continue to bowl good lengths and test lengths with Spencer Johnson and Mukesh,” Srikkanth said.
Despite the loss, CSK remain in contention for the playoffs but will need some luck to get going in the next two matches.
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Published on:
16 May 2026 10:37 IST
