Lucknow Super Giants' hopes of reaching the Indian Premier League final in their debut campaign were dashed by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2022 Eliminator. While there were a lot of positives to take from their first season in the IPL, former India batter Aakash Chopra has questioned LSG's decision to hold back Evin Lewis in the high pressure chase against RCB. The cricketer-turned commentator was critical of LSG's decision to play Manan Vohra at no. 3, following Quinton de Kock's early dismissal, saying that he "personally" didn't like the strategy.
"We had said that Quinton de Kock has an issue against this team. We thought he will get out to Josh but got out to Siraj. But after that at No. 3, surprise comes Manan Vohra. Personally, I didn't like that strategy at all. I was thinking, why not Evin Lewis? Why did you play Evin Lewis if you are not sending him at No. 3?," Chopra said in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel.
"Were you holding him back thinking that Maxwell will get away with overs there but Maxwell will bowl to Rahul also, he will hit him there. Even though Vohra played a good short 19-run knock but because of that Evin Lewis slipped too low down the order," he added.
Rajat Patidar became the first uncapped player to score a century in the IPL playoffs as his unbeaten knock of 112 took RCB to a total of 207 for four.
Chasing a target of 208, LSG were restricted to a total of 193 for six, despite KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda's knocks of 79 and 45, respectively.
RCB will now take on Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 of Friday.