Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif did not hold back in his assessment of Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) struggles in the Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025), pointing the finger at their decision to retain injury-prone players for hefty sums.
The playoff hopes for Lucknow Super Giants faded after their six-wicket defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Monday, with their captain, Rishabh Pant, lamenting injury woes for their dismal performance. Despite high hopes and strategic planning, the team struggled to maintain consistency, finishing the season with more questions than answers.
LSG entered the tournament with a well-thought-out auction plan, aiming to build a balanced side capable of challenging for the title. However, a string of injuries to key players, particularly in the bowling department, including Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav and Akash Deep, disrupted their campaign.
Also read: IPL 2025: Watch - Sanjiv Goenka's Reaction After LSG Skipper Rishabh Pant's Dismissal Against SRH
Mohammad Kaif Criticises LSG’s IPL 2025 Retentions
Kaif took a direct jab at LSG’s decision to retain injury-prone players at high costs. Mayank and Mohsin were among LSG’s five retentions for IPL 2025.
Mohsin, who was retained for INR 4 crore, did not play a match and was replaced by Shardul Thakur. Mayank was signed for INR 11 crore and could feature in only two games before getting injured again. Mayank was replaced by William O’Rourke.
Akash, who was roped in at the auction, also got ruled out of the season.
"I would rather pay money to retain players who can play the full season. LSG's entire bowling attack is injury-prone. I'm not saying injuries don't happen, but for players who are more susceptible to them, stop retaining them for big money. Instead, pick them up at the auction," Kaif said as quoted.
Kaif’s comments came following Rishabh Pant’s statement on LSG’s poor show in IPL 2025. He talked about the injury issues in the camp, stating that the Lucknow-based franchise would have been better had everybody been fit.
"It could have been one of our best seasons, but coming into the tournament, we had a lot of gaps, injuries, and as a team we decided to not talk about that, but it became difficult to fill those gaps for us," Pant said as quoted in the post-match presser.
"The way we planned the auction, if we had had the same bowling… but this is cricket, sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don’t, we take pride in the way we played and take the positives from the season rather than the negative side," he added.
SRH Crush LSG’s Playoff Dreams
Sunrisers Hyderabad delivered a crushing blow to Lucknow Super Giants' IPL 2025 playoff aspirations with a commanding six-wicket victory at Ekana Cricket Stadium on May 19.
Despite LSG posting a formidable total of 205 runs, powered by half-centuries from Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram, SRH chased the target with 10 balls to spare, led by Abhishek Sharma’s explosive 59 runs off 20 balls.
This defeat eliminated LSG from the playoff contention, as they can now only reach 14 points even if they win their remaining two matches.
