5 Players Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Underutilized in IPL 2023

Lucknow Super Giants had a decent outing in IPL 2023 as they finished at the third position in the points table. However, they got eliminated from the tournament after Mumbai Indians defeated them by 81 runs in the IPL 2023 Eliminator.

While some of the Lucknow Super Giants‘ players played brilliantly throughout the tournament, a few of them didn’t get enough opportunity to showcase their potential.

Here are the 5 players who were underutilized by the LSG team management in IPL 2023:

1. Quinton de Kock

Quinton de Kock has a proven record in the cash-rich league and did exceptionally well for the LSG franchise in IPL 2022. However, he wasn’t available for selection in the first few games due to national duties after which Kyle Mayers got the chance to open the innings alongside KL Rahul.

Lucknow Super Giants kept persisting with Mayers and Quinton got his opportunity only after KL Rahul was ruled out of the tournament due to a hamstring injury. He played just 4 games in IPL 2023 and scored 143 runs with a strike rate of 140.20 but wasn’t included in the playing XI in IPL 2023 Eliminator.

2. Amit Mishra

Amit Mishra played 7 games for the LSG side and was mostly included as the Impact Player. He did well in most games still was given just two overs in the game against RCB before being substituted out of the contest and bowled only a couple of overs against the Gujarat Titans too.

Amit Mishra didn’t even play on a helpful surface in Lucknow against Mumbai Indians. He missed out from the playing XI in the Eliminator against the same team on a sluggish track.

3. Nicholas Pooran

Nicholas Pooran scored 358 runs at an average of 29.83 and a strike rate of 172.94 in IPL 2023 but could have been used far better by the LSG team. With Quinton de Kock, Mayers and Krunal Pandya in the top order, Pooran was shielded out of a need to have a left-right pair in the middle.

LSG sent Marcus Stoinis up the order and often had to counter spin despite Pooran being a better player of spin bowling leading to lesser opportunities for the Caribbean batter.

4. Prerak Mankad

Prerak Mankad got a go as an impact substitute in the game against Gujarat Titans. However, he didn’t get any opportunity in the first half of IPL 2023 until KL Rahul got injured but he looked pretty impressive right from the word go.

In the game against the SunRisers Hyderabad, he scored an unbeaten 64 to help his side in a must-win encounter. He also chipped in with a useful 26 against the Kolkata Knight Riders and certainly deserved more opportunities at the top.

5. Manan Vohra

Manan Vohra is a consistent performer in the Indian domestic circuit. He was included in the playing XI after the injury of skipper KL Rahul but got to play only one game in which he scored 10 runs despite LSG facing regular issues in their top order.