Former Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Aakash Chopra feels that Nicholas Pooran will have a big knock to play against Mumbai Indians tonight.
Hardik Pandya’s MI is all set to visit KL Rahul’s Lucknow Super Giants for the 48th match at the Ekana Sports Stadium in Lucknow. This will be the first meeting of the two teams of the IPL 2024 season. Both teams, who have had a contrasting season so far, will be playing their 10th match of the season and both are in a must-win situation.
What did Aakash Chopra say about Nicholas Pooran?
While speaking in his latest YouTube video made about the MI Vs LSG clash tonight, Aakash Chopra expressed his high expectations for Nicholas Pooran. Chopra feels that Pooran will be the batsman to watch out for in Lucknow’s batting order, which contains some dangerous names like Quinton de Kock, Rahul and Marcus Stoinis, among others.
Aakash Chopra began by expressing his confidence in Nicholas Pooran, stating that he is the heart of the LSG batting line-up. The former right-handed batsman stated that Lucknow is comfortable till the time Pooran is at the crease as he has a tendency to hit sixes consistently.
Chopra claimed that Nicholas Pooran doesn’t really mind Ekana’s huge lateral boundaries as his muscle power helps him clear the fence easily.
“Nicholas Pooran once again because I have a lot of confidence in him. I feel like you will keep breathing until he is there. He will keep hitting sixes. The side boundaries are huge, but he doesn’t care. He says they could be big, but he still gets will fix.” -Aakash Chopra said through his latest YouTube video.
The 38-year-old then explained a very good reason why Nicholas Pooran would be determined to score runs in front of the home fans. Chopra highlighted the way Pooran had come out in Lucknow’s previous match against Rajasthan Royals. Pooran left the crease on just the first ball after the second strategic time-out of the first innings at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
With that in mind, Pooran will be eager to get back to basics. Another key reason why Pooran must score is the fact that LSG falls short of 20-25 runs every time the Trinidadian fails to score runs, according to Aakash Chopra.
“He got out in the last match with the first ball after the strategic time-out. So he might be regretting that. If you bat first and he doesn’t score runs, you are at least 20 or 25 runs short. That’s what happened. No player bowling apart from (Jasprit) Bumrah has performed well so far, so you have to back Nicholas Pooran.” – Chopra concluded.
LSG aims to be third in the points table
A win tonight will take KL Rahul’s LSG to third place, overtaking Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, who are third and fourth in the table. And a win by a big margin tonight could also see them replace Kolkata Knight Riders in second place. Can Lucknow make things worse for Mumbai Indians? Time will tell.