Former South Africa captain Shaun Pollock bowls skipper Rishabh Pant during LSG’s last loss against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2026. Lucknow have been through their seventh game this season, meaning their play-off hopes are almost over.
This was Lucknow’s 15th loss under Pant and he continues to underperform with the bat. In nine matches so far, Pant has scored 204 runs at an average of 25.5 and a strike rate of 128.3.
However, it was the LSG captain’s strategy that caught Pollock’s eye, particularly when it came to the use of bowlers. Speaking to Cricbuzz, the former all-rounder questioned why Pant did not use Aiden Markram and used only five bowlers.
He also questioned why Avesh Khan was asked to continue bowling yorkers when it was ineffective at the Wankhede and ended up conceding 56 runs in 3.4 overs.
“Also, they used only five bowlers and didn’t go for the extra option of Aiden Markram. Someone like Avesh Khan, his power always hit a good length.”
“Here he was running in and trying to bowl yorkers. And they were up to their knees and getting the pack away. The bowlers need to realize what their strength is and stick to it. By bringing Inglis in, they’ve lost an international bowler who probably would have done a better job of balancing,” Pollock said.
“NO CLEAR PLANS”
Set a target of 229 runs, LSG quickly lost control in the first 10 overs as Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickleton decimated the bowlers with 143 runs off 65 balls. Pollock said that Pant seemed to have no clear plans to stop the MI opener and rather hoped that one of them would end up making a mistake.
“Sometimes in games like this it almost feels like you’re aimless as a captain. When two players are flying around like they’re at the top of the order for MI, you feel like there’s nothing you can do. But there didn’t seem to be any clear plans to take the wicket or limit the scoring. It didn’t look like they were going for anything unique, but the Pollockers were hoping for them.”
LSG will take on RCB in their next match on May 7 in Lucknow.
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Published on:
05 May 2026 14:35 IST
