'He is a very important player for LSG' - Suresh Raina heaps praise on Krunal Pandya after all-round show against SRH

Lucknow Super Giants returned to winning ways on Friday, April 7, as they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in their third match of the IPL 2023. After opting to bat first, Sunrisers could only post a total of 121/8 in the first innings as they failed to come to terms with the slow track of Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.

In reply, Lucknow chased down the target in 16 overs and handed the second consecutive defeat to Hyderabad of IPL 2023. Talking about SRH’s performance so far, former India cricketer Anil Kumble said that he had kept them in his top four at the start of the tournament, and they have a very good batting line up which has failed to fire.

“It is not the greatest of starts. Even I had them in my Top-4, I still believe that they have a good side, a very good batting lineup. They have not fired. Their batting has let them down in both the matches. Even against Rajasthan Royals at their home ground, they didn’t score enough runs. Even the bowling on this surface” said Kumble on JioCinema.

Kumble further said that the team missed the trick by not bringing Adil Rashid into the attack early. The legendary leg spinner felt that since they had a low total to defend, they should’ve brought their leading spinner into the attack as early as possible.

“Even when they played against Rajasthan, they missed a trick by not bringing in Adil Rashid against Jos Buttler. We all know Buttler, at the start of the innings, doesn’t like leg-spinners coming in and bowling. Even here, Adil Rashid was held till the first six overs. You only have 121 runs on board; use your main spinner. He should be bowling. Even Washington Sundar bowled just that one over in the powerplay. So, there are some things that they need to certainly work on, but most importantly, they need to get their batting sorted,” Kumble added.

Krunal Pandya shone with both bat and ball for LSG and deservedly got the Player of the Match award. He picked up 3/18 in four overs which included scalps of Mayank Agarwal, Aiden Markram (golden duck) and a well-set Anmolpreet Singh.

With the bat, he scored 34 off 23 balls, smashing four fours and a six and added 55 runs for the third wicket off 38 balls with KL Rahul.

Talking about his all-round show, former India and CSK player Suresh Raina said he batted with good intent and always steps up whenever the team needed him.

It was a good all-round performance today by Krunal Pandya: Suresh Raina

“He (Krunal) batted with good intent. Scored boundaries and then picked up singles as well, it was a good all-round performance today. The boundary he scored by stepping out, it is a difficult shot in these conditions and then the six to Adil Rashid, he looked in good form. Like he mentioned to the press, he has worked on it and is a good white ball cricketer,” said Raina.

“He bowls during the powerplay and if asked to bowl later also, stands for his captain. In batting as well, he has good dimension. Looks to attack, has good intent and plays very less dot balls and whenever there is an opportunity, hits boundaries as well. He is a very important player for LSG,” the four-time IPL winner added.

Having lost their first two matches, SRH will look to turn things around in their next fixture against Punjab Kings on Sunday, April 9, at their home ground Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.