Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by five wickets in a one-sided match in the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday, April 15.
Former India all-rounder Manoj Tiwari has criticized LSG batsman Abdul Samad, saying the 24-year-old is not taking advantage of his opportunities. On Wednesday he scored zero runs in two balls. In five innings this season, he has scored 72 runs at an average of 14.40 and strike rate of 110.77.
“As for Abdul Samad, I think he is wasting his chances. A lot of matches have passed and he has not performed well. I remember one match against KKR, where there were two overs left and wickets were falling. He had scored 35 runs, but even at that time, I felt he could have wanted to play till the last over and go for the big shots. There has been a mistake in his decision making,” Tiwary told Cricbuzz.
Manoj Tiwari said that Lucknow Super Giants should be supported in place of Abdul Samad who is in bad form. Shahbaz AhmedWho have performed incredibly well in the domestic circuit.
“They have Shahbaz Ahmed in the team. He is from Bengal and has also played for India when Axar Patel was injured. He gives you a left-arm spin option, and the way he has performed in domestic cricket, you would be surprised to see him not making it to the playing eleven despite scoring so many runs in all formats,” the cricketer-turned-expert said.
“They started with him but didn't show enough confidence. He will give you the left-arm option that Linde gives, and you will get a better batsman. He will cover for both Samad and Linde,” he said.
I thought they made a strategic mistake: Manoj Tiwari criticizes LSG think tank
Tiwari said Lucknow missed a trick by sending in not specialist batsman Matthew Bretzke but spin-bowling all-rounder George Linde as an impact player after they lost their sixth wicket in the 17th over. Linde scored seven runs per ball and bowled only 1.1 overs.
“I thought they made a tactical mistake today. You have Tom Moody in your dugout, who has been here as a director or coach for many years. Justin Langer has also been here for two-three years. You had Mathieu Bretzke in your team. You could have sent him because he is a pure batsman who plays aggressively, but you sent George Linde. He didn't bowl much. You gave him just 1.1 overs,” he shouted.
Get every cricket update! Follow us: :
Leave a Reply