Lucknow Super Giants skipper Rishabh Pant called Mukul Choudhary’s brilliant knock as a “fantastic effort” in taking the side home against Kolkata Knight Riders in a IPL match on Thursday.
Chasing 182 for a win, LSG were reeling at 104 for 5 in 12.5 overs. Mukul was at the crease and he steered the chase really well with an unbeaten 54 off 27 balls, where he hit two fours and seven sixes as LSG registered a three-wicket win off the last ball.
“I do not have words to describe but what a fantastic effort (from Mukul). One thing I made sure is that personally, that trust and when you believe in someone, a player can do wonders. The character, with each and every match like this, it shows something is building. We don’t want to talk much about it but something is cooking inside,” Pant said at the post match presentation.
Pant also lauded Ayush Badoni for his crucial 34-ball 54. “He (Badoni) is now a senior pro in our team. That is the role we have given him. In a situation like this, when we talk about Badoni, these are the kind (of contributions) you want to see from Badoni.”
KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane said the defeat against LSG was a tough one to swallow, but credited Mukul’s match-defining knock.
“Tough one to take but really proud of the boys for the way we played. Mukul’s knock was defining. The execution here and there can happen in the last two overs but credit to Mukul for that partnership.
“For them it was nothing to lose, two overs 30 runs so it was all about swinging hard every ball. Couple of balls were good balls but he batted brilliantly,” Rahane said.
“When you lose a game it’s easy to know what we could have done better. 180 odd on this wicket wasn’t easy. Let’s give credit to the batter for the way he batted. Intention was to keep Avesh on strike. We had to field five fielders up and it’s tough on the bowlers,” he added.
