Lucknow Super Giants are out of the playoff race after they suffered their eighth loss in 11 matches. After their loss to Chennai Super Kings in an IPL 2026 match on Sunday, Tom Moody, the global director of cricket for Lucknow Super Giants said their inconsistent batting especially in the middle order hurt their campaign this season.
“If we look at our season from a broad lens, I think our batting has let us down, particularly our middle order. It hasn’t shown the consistency that’s required to have success on a consistent basis… our top order and our batting hasn’t fired, so we’re exposed down the back end of the innings,” Moody said.
LSG have struggled this season because of constant changes in tactics, poor performances from some star players and inconsistent batting displays.
Captain Rishabh Pant has come under heavy criticism as both his captaincy and batting form have failed to live up to expectations after he was bought for a record Rs 27 crore. In 11 matches, Pant has scored 251 runs at an average of 27.89 and a strike rate of 138.67, with only one fifty this season.
Speaking about the criticism around Pant, Moody said that senior players in the IPL are always under pressure to perform.
“I can’t speak for him to how he’s feeling about the expectation. Every player, particularly profile players, has pressure coming into the IPL. It is the biggest tournament in the world. Whether it’s Rishabh Pant or anyone else, if you’re captain or a senior player with a decorated career, you’re under pressure,” he said.
Pant batted at three different batting positions this season – opener, No. 3 and No. 4.
“Rishabh was keen to bat at three this year, so we afforded him that opportunity. First game he opened, that was purely a match-up. Aksar Patel, first game Delhi Capitals, we felt getting a left-hander early to derail their strategy around what they’re looking to do in the power play. He got out, unfortunately run out in an unfortunate fashion. He missed that opportunity for that match-up,” Moody said.
Moody, however, backed the bowling unit, saying it had largely done its job throughout the campaign.
“Bowling has been pretty good if you look over the whole season. We’ve generally taken wickets in the powerplay and put pressure on the opposition. We’ve struggled to maintain that pressure in the middle phase of the game, that’s where generally the game has drifted,” he said.
He also spoke about the impact of injuries and unavailable players on the team balance, especially the absence of Wanindu Hasaranga.
“Hassaranga was a significant miss for us because he was a really important key to the puzzle of how we were trying to stack up as a side. He offered that point of difference with a mystery spinner and also depth at number eight,” Moody said.
He added that despite a blazing start given by Josh Inglis, LSG failed to maximise their innings on against CSK on Sunday.
“Once we got the start we got, we should have put 220-plus on the board. Losing five wickets for around 60 in the middle phase was a real blow to maximising the total,” he said.
