Former Indian Test opener Wasim Jaffer questioned Lucknow Super Giants’ batting order after they suffered a 54-run loss against Punjab Kings at New Chandigarh in the ongoing IPL 2026 on Sunday. Chasing 255 runs for the win, LSG’s think tank promoted Ayush Badoni to open the innings.
Badoni scored 35 runs off 21 balls while opening for the first time in the IPL whereas Aiden Markram was pushed down to number five. The South African batter scored 42 runs off 22 balls as LSG were totally outplayed by PBKS.
Wasim Jaffer said on his YouTube Channel, “I really didn’t understand it, honestly. Because Aiden Markram is the kind of batter who, if he gets going, has the ability to score a hundred. We’ve already talked about how Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram have given very good starts, so this constant reshuffling is something I don’t understand in their setup. Of course, there are very experienced people sitting in the dugout, but for some reason, it just doesn’t make sense why Markram was pushed so far down the order.”
Jaffer said he could not understand why LSG made the change in their batting order when Markram was fit.
“At first, I thought maybe Markram wasn’t fit or something like that, but that wasn’t the case. And Ayush Badoni doesn’t usually open either, so overall, I just couldn’t understand why they made these decisions.”
The former domestic giant said LSG’s batter Nicholas Pooran looks completely out of sorts after the left-hander was dismissed for a run-a-ball nine. Pooran was bamboozled by a slower from Marco Jansen.
He concluded, “Pooran looks completely out of sorts right now. Things just aren’t working for him, and he’s going through a really tough phase. But when LSG needs him, Pooran is not delivering, and that’s surprising. I feel that Nicholas Pooran should bat at number three, and Rishabh Pant should come in at number four. That is probably their best batting lineup.”
LSG will next take on KKR at Lucknow on Sunday.
