Nicholas Pooran was bowled on the very first delivery bowled by Sunil Narine in the Super Over.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) head coach Justin Langer explained the call to send Nicholas Pooran for the Super Over against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) following their fifth straight defeat in the ongoing IPL season.
Pooran has been in awful form in IPL 2026, with scores of 8, 1, 13, 19, 1, 9 and 22 before Sunday's (April 26) clash at Ekana Cricket Stadium. The southpaw was dismissed for 9 in regulation time, and yet LSG sent him to face Sunil Narine in the Super Over.
Pooran was bowled on the very first delivery while attempting a slog sweep, giving KKR an early edge. On the third ball, Markram was dismissed as LSG’s innings ended at 1/2 after just 0.3 overs. KKR chased the target of 2 runs on the very first ball, with Rinku Singh smashing a boundary off Prince Yadav.
While the decision was widely criticized given Pooran’s struggles this season, Langer defended the move, citing the former West Indies batter’s familiarity with compatriot Narine.
"We knew that Sunil Narine was the bowler, and if you look at Nicky's (Pooran's) record, he's seen Narine more than anyone in world cricket," Langer said in the post-match presser. "So, we felt he was still the best, I know he hasn't hit his form yet, and Nicky will be the first, but we thought if anyone can handle a Super Over, it's Nicky Pooran. And you back your best players, right? That's what you do".
"So, he has struggled, but if you look at all the numbers, no one plays Narine, the world class off spinner, better than Nicky, but it didn't come off unfortunately".
Langer hailed Pooran as the world's best T20 player over the last few years, but admitted that he is lacking confidence at the moment.
"He's working on it, and it's amazing that even big players like him, there's probably no greater T20 player currently in the world over the last few years, it just goes to show he's human, and you can't fake confidence," Langer said.
"We all try to, you can look like [you are] confident, but confidence comes from getting your processes right, and we're working every day with him, and he is working very hard to get it back. Sometimes this is a tough game of cricket, my gosh, it's a tough game".
Justin Langer expressed frustration over his team's failure to adapt to a slower, lower black-soil pitch.
"It's frustrating. I said after the last game I thought the wicket was very good on the red soil and it was fast and bouncy. I said it was and it's really exciting for cricket and we didn't adapt today to the black soil which was slower and lower and spun a little bit".
"So, it's incredibly frustrating. I feel for the fans. I feel for our supporters. I feel for everyone who follows us. We're not adapting to the conditions as well as we should be."
The coach was effusive in praise of Mohsin Khan, who demolished KKR with a five-wicket before Rinku Singh resurrected their innings with a fine half-century.
"I said a few nights ago I thought he (Mohsin) and Prince will soon play cricket for India. And the thing about Mohsin Khan is, he is an incredible athlete.
"He's done some great work with Bharat Arun. He spent - what a lot of people don't know - he spent a few months at Bharat's academy in Chennai leading up to this, all off his own back and he did it and he worked hard and he's getting fit. That's why he was so disappointed when he hurt his quad after the first game because we can see how valuable he is.
"We haven't had him much for the last two seasons and it's a great thrill for us to have him in the team and it wouldn't surprise me if it's a great thrill for India to have him in their team in the not-too-distant future," Langer said.
Moreover, Langer lauded Mohammad Shami and Prince Yadav for their spells but lamented how the last two overs played out.
"So that hurts, right? That's what T20 cricket's about. You try and negate the really big overs and we had two at the end when we felt like for 18 overs, we were on top of the game. And then they get 40 odd. They get a bit of a sniff.
"They've got two world-class spinners obviously, Varun (Chakaravarthy) and Sunil (Narine). So, they would have felt like they're in the game, and for a lot of that time we felt like we're still in the game and just fell behind and got a bit exciting in the end but not exciting enough," he remarked.
Having lost six of their eight matches, LSG are currently languishing at the bottom of the IPL 2026 points table. The Rishabh Pant-led side will next face Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on May 4.