Asks the opposition how many runs they want and gifts them

Former Indian captain Kris Srikkanth urged the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to drop discarded Team India pacer Avesh Khan for the IPL 2026 clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on May 7. The 29-year-old is coming off a horrific outing against Mumbai Indians (MI), conceding 56 runs off 3.4 wicketless overs.

Avesh is having a poor overall IPL 2026 season, averaging almost 46 at an economy of over 11 with the ball. As a result, LSG are in the doldrums with only two wins in nine matches and at the bottom of the points table.

Talking about the LSG lineup for the upcoming RCB clash, Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel (29:04):

“The only thing LSG should not do is play Avesh Khan. If you play Avesh Khan, the match is gone. He is a run-gifter who almost asks the opposition how many runs they want and gifts them. They should play both M Siddharth and Digvesh Rathi.”

After a 2-1 start to the season, LSG have lost six in a row to be all but eliminated from playoff contention.

“They have huge problems with the bat” – Kris Srikkanth on LSG

Kris Srikkanth pointed to LSG’s overall batting lineup as their biggest weakness in the ongoing IPL 2026. The former captain cited the lack of form of the international stars, combined with the lack of explosion among the youngsters, as the reason for LSG’s batting woes.

“They have huge problems with the bat. Rishabh Pant is not scoring at all. People keep saying Bison but Mitchell Marsh has not been deadly. Pooran and Markram have just been okay,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

He concluded:

“Himmat Singh is a good youngster, but he’s not a tearaway youngster. You can’t put him in the class with other youngsters doing well. Himmat Singh is not able to blast away. He is not terrorizing the bowlers. They should have got 25 extra runs vs MI. But Markram was bottled up in the end.”

A loss to RCB will officially end LSG’s playoff hopes, making it a hat-trick of seasons without a top four finish.