Former Team India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin dives deep into Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) performance for the IPL 2026 season, where they finished in 10th place of the ten-team league. Ashwin points out some of the questionable decisions the LSG management had taken during their run in the season, which might have influenced their overall performance.
Ravichandran Ashwin put multiple questions on LSG’s team selection. Some of the changes Lucknow made during their run in the IPL 2026 made no sense for the former international cricketer.
R Ashwin puts questions on Ayush Badoni’s snub
One of the things Ashwin still cannot decode is the snub of Ayush Badoni from the playing eleven. Ahead of the Indian Premier League 2026, Ayush Badoni did a brilliant job in the domestic season, but struggled with the bat with the Lucknow Super Giants.
Instead of keep trusting on his talent, LSG kept providing support to Nicholas Pooran, who was among the flop batters in the season. Badoni, because of his excellence in domestic cricket, is on his way to play for Team India in the near future.
“Nicholas Pooran could not lay bat on ball the entire season, yet they backed Nicholas Pooran time and again. Ayush Badoni got an India call-up yet sat out several matches for LSG. They had to give him a long run. Then you sit Mukesh Choudhary after calling him the next best finisher and play Himmat Singh,” Ravichandran Ashwin said in his YouTube video.
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Ayush Badoni vs Nicholas Pooran IPL 2026 batting stats comparison
Meanwhile, the 26-year-old Indian batter concluded his IPL 2026 season with a batting average of 21.50 as he scored 215 runs in 10 matches and as many innings. He missed four matches in total.
On the other hand, Nicholas Pooran, who played all 14 matches in the group stage for the Lucknow Super Giants, recorded a batting average of 18.00 as he got only 234 runs in 14 matches and 14 innings.
They could have got the best out of Pant: Ashwin to LSG
Ashwin raised concerns over the team’s batting tactic as well. At the beginning of the season, they promoted Rishabh Pant as an opener along with Mitchell Marsh. Pant’s stint as the opener of LSG suddenly came to an end as he sustained unfortunate early dismissals.
Ashwin believes that the team management should allow Rishabh Pant to carry the role, where he could score a lot of runs, utilizing the powerplays. In the later part of the tournament, Rishabh Pant, then the skipper of the Lucknow Super Giants, found himself down in the batting order as a middle-order batter, where his form also did not show any sign of improvement.
“They could have got the best out of Pant if they had made him open the batting. Had he scored 600 runs opening, he would have captained well and listened to the coaches instead of saying there were too many decision makers. Once they played musical chairs with Pant, half their tournament was finished there itself,” R Ashwin opines in his YouTube channel.
