CHENNAI: When Lucknow Super Giants started the 2023 season, unlike Gujarat Titans and the other IPL teams, apart from winning the trophy, they had another task cut out for them. Trying to crave out an identity for themselves. The other newbie, Gujarat, had won the title in front of a packed home crowd the year before. Lucknow, on the other hand, hadn’t played a game at their home venue till this year.
In Lucknow, they were playing on probably the toughest surface this season. For a batting line-up that thrives on hitting through the line and playing big shots, it felt weird. They won just three at home with one more game getting washed out due to rain. When they went on the road, LSG won five, finishing third in the table. However, for some reason, their approach and run in the lead-up to the play-offs seem different than others.
There is a sense of randomness to their campaign; a factor that is often associated with the format itself. They don’t have a batter in the top 18 run-scorers, none in the top-ten wicket-takers, lost their captain and their leading run-scorer from last year to injury, yet have pulled-off chases where they have no business getting across the line; managed to win eight games, including their last three in the league stages, to qualify for the play-offs.
How does one explain their success mantra — something that is regularly associated with Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings and even Titans, who seemed to be following the latter’s template — if at all they have one?
It is hard to pinpoint if they have a template. There seemed to be one when KL Rahul was playing where he took it slow and play long while the middle-order go gung-ho from ball one, but not after he got injured. Since then they have played a disruptive brand of cricket, which, at some level, has helped them. Some of their wins have been a bit random as well, with a bit of luck going their way — the wins at Hyderabad and Bengaluru for example.
However, that is not all of it. In Kyle Mayers, Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran they have found their protagonists who have bailed them out time and again. Three of them have scored more than 350 runs, with Pooran and Stoinis leading the way with their six-hitting. Both have hit 26 sixes each, often muscling their way on surfaces that weren’t helpful for orthodox stroke-makers. Pooran, in particular, has been the show stealer as the southpaw’s cameos this year has been an exhibition in modern-day T20 batting. If the ball is in his slot, the match-up is in his favour, he has made the most of it, irrespective of the situation.
There have been other supporting cast as well, including the stand-in skipper Krunal Pandya. In Lucknow, he has been close to unplayable and in other venues, he has done his job well enough to assist Ravi Bishnoi, their leading spinner. He has also shown promising signs in captaincy including some batting performances along with Ayush Badani. Someone has risen up to the occasion when needed — Mohsin Khan, Mark Wood, Stoinis, the list goes on. This is just about the cricket. With Gautam Gambhir as their mentor, there has been no dearth of drama when they play some teams.
Having said that, LSG once again find themselves in the position where they were last year — eliminator. They lost to RCB in 2022, and this year, they will be up against Mumbai Indians in Chennai on Wednesday. With the kind of campaign they have had, it is hard to say what they stand for. But as is often the case, history is written by winners. Can Lucknow get past where they were in 2022 to go all the way this time? We’ll have the answer by the end of this week.
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