The much-awaited sixteenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is just a couple of days away. IPL 2023 is scheduled to get underway on Friday (March 31) with a mouthwatering clash between defending champions Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
As the start of IPL 2023 gets closer and closer, the cricketing world is once again busy in predicting the fortunes of the teams and the players. And recently former Australia skipper Aaron Finch joined the bandwagon too. The T20 World Cup-winning captain is all set for his maiden commentary stint in the league this year.
Ahead of IPL 2023, he analysed Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and opined that the KL Rahul-led side will struggle to reach the playoffs in the upcoming season. Lucknow made their IPL debut last year and performed well. Under Rahul’s captaincy, they made it to the playoffs after winning 9 of the 14 league games.
Talking about LSG, Aaron Finch stated that he could see the team struggling in the upcoming season due to their bowling line-up. The former cricketer-turned-commentator also predicted that the team will not be very good in the death overs of the game, which could cost them points in the upcoming season.
“I see a potential weakness in the Lucknow Super Giants, being their death bowling. I think they’ve got a lot of options throughout the middle, they’ve got some good all-rounders. But I think, when you look at the combinations, finding good quality four overs of death bowling will be a real challenge for them,” Aaron Finch said on Star Sports.
Aaron Finch on LSG’s overseas combination:
Speaking further, the Australia great further spoke on LSG’s preferred combination of overseas players. He picked one from South Africa, West Indies, Australia and England. Finch went with Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran and Mark Wood as his overseas picks for LSG.
“I think the first choice overseas 4 for the Lucknow Super Giants, obviously Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, and I think adding Mark Wood to their squad, can have a huge impact for them,” Finch said.