"Lucknow have been overdependent on their overseas players"- Former Indian cricketer after LSG's loss against MI in IPL 2023 Eliminator

Former Indian cricketer Murali Kartik feels the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) depended too much on their overseas batters and that their Indian batters didn't make enough contributions throughout the season.

Kartik shed light on how inconsistent the likes of Deepak Hooda and stand-in skipper Krunal Pandya were for LSG and how that made them heavily dependent on other batters like Kyle Mayers, Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran.

Speaking to Cricbuzz after the game, here's what Murali Kartik had to say about Lucknow's overdependence on individual brilliance:

"Lucknow have been overdependent on their overseas players and their Indian players have just not been able to step up. Apart from Stoinis I don't think anyone could even score at a run a ball. This is one problem that they will need to address ahead of next season."

Virender Sehwag agreed with Murali Kartik on LSG's struggles

Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag was also present in the discussion. He had previously predicted that Stoinis and Pooran were going to be key for Lucknow's chances against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Eliminator.

He also spoke about how the run out of Stoinis proved to be the final nail in Lucknow's coffin and pretty much summed up their batting collapse. On this, Sehwag stated:

"I had already said that there's always scoreboard pressure in knockout games and Mumbai played without that pressure by batting first. Lucknow had started decently too and it all depended on Stoinis and Pooran. While Pooran was gone on the first ball, Stoinis had the ability to take the game deep and score even a hundred if needed. But after that collision and run-out, the result was just a formality."

The Lucknow Super Giants may need to have a look at their Indian batters and possibly look for reinforcements in that department ahead of next season.

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