New Delhi, May 20 Former Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody feels that Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) failed to ace the auction game last year after spending Rs 48 crore on acquiring just two players - captain Rishabh Pant (Rs 27 crore) and Nicholas Pooran (Rs 21 crore) - which left them with little to no money to dilute on signing top-notch bowlers.
A six-wicket defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad crushed their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs for the second successive season since their induction to the tournament in 2022.
"The expense on Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran, those two players, makes it very hard to build a very strong bowling unit. Because you just don't have the funds to compete at the auction table," Moody said on ESPNcricinfo's Time Out.
"In an ideal world, it's great to have Pooran, (David) Miller, (Mitchell) Marsh, Pant... all these are impactful batters, but at the end of the day, you need to bowl. You've got to be able to have an impactful bowling unit in powerplays. Be adaptable in the middle overs and take wickets, and squeeze the opposition. And in the back-end of the innings, you need people to close the game under pressure - take wickets, bowl those really challenging overs when the opposition is going hell-for-leather against you. And I just don't think they've got any of that."
LSG had depleted pace resources for the season with Mohsin Khan missing the entire tournament, while Mayank Yadav spent most of it on the sidelines. Both Avesh Khan and Akash Deep dealt with fitness concerns, which impacted their performances. Meanwhile, Mohsin’s replacement, Shardul Thakur, started strong but faded as the season progressed.
Abhinav Mukund agreed with Moody’s assessment but added that LSG might have let emotions influence their decisions, particularly in retaining Mayank and Ravi Bishnoi.
"Avesh is a tick, but Akash has played a handful of games in the IPL. He's primarily a red-ball bowler known in this country for his red-ball skills. And over and above that, you've invested in Mayank Yadav. A lot of teams get emotional about their picks; they get really emotional, like 'we've found him, we need to have him, we need to ensure that he's here.' That's the same with Bishnoi," Abhinav said.
Despite the overall underwhelming bowling performance, Digvesh Rathi was a bright spot for LSG. He was the only bowler to feature in all 12 matches and emerged as their standout performer, claiming 14 wickets at an economy rate of 8.18.
"But why I say they've gotten lucky (is) because they've got two players who've gone under the radar for them. Which was one retention in Ayush Badoni, who's had a very decent season, and the other is one guy who has played just two games for his state side, which is Digvesh Rathi, who has turned out to be exceptional at [INR] 30 lakh. And then you've invested in another 30 lakhs bowler in Prince Yadav, who hasn't done too badly for that kind of price," Abhinav added.
Although Bishnoi was a guaranteed starter in LSG’s playing XI at the beginning of the season, he failed to deliver the impact the team had hoped for. He featured in 11 matches, taking nine wickets at an economy rate of 10.83.
"He's become too predictable. He doesn't have a variation other than the googly, he definitely needs to work on his speeds, and he needs to understand how to get out of an over once he starts getting hit," Abhinav explained.
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