Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has slammed the Lucknow Super Giants and questioned their ‘senseless’ decision making. Chopra said that the franchise’s inability to make smart decisions was one of the biggest reasons behind their flop campaign in the IPL 2026 season. He pointed out them sending Nicholas Pooran in the Super Over against Sunil Narine and said that everyone knows that the Trinidadian batter is unable to hit his compatriot.
"Some decision-making, in which the Nicholas Pooran decision did not make sense. You sent him in the Super Over, and Narine was in front of him. The entire world knows he is unable to hit, but you sent him. Justin Langer came later and tried to justify it, but it didn't make a lot of sense," said Chopra on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’.
Notably, the Rishabh Pant-led side suffered another dismal season and finished last after the IPL 2026 league phase. They grabbed eight points and lost 10 of their 14 league-stage matches, including a thrilling Super Over game against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Aakash Chopra questions LSG’s frequent changes in batting order
Apart from slamming the team’s poor decision making, the cricketer-turned-commentator also pointed out the frequent changes the team came up with in their batting order. Calling it "a game of musical chairs,” Chopra said, "Everyone was moved up and down in the batting order. Nicholas Pooran started down the order, and then he was sent at No. 3. He scored a fifty at No. 3, but his season was extremely ordinary.”
Not only this, but he also talked about LSG skipper Rishabh Pant and said, "Mitchell Marsh is at No. 1 and Rishabh Pant is at No. 2 for sure, but there is a difference of 250 runs between the top two run-scorers. Obviously, Rishabh's season was also ordinary. They should have shown slightly more faith in Mukul Choudhary and Ayush Badoni shouldn't have been moved from the middle order.” Notably, the Super Giants became the first team to get knocked out of the IPL 2026 playoffs contention.
