Fantasy and fairytale probably led LSG to send Pooran against Narine: Ex-Windies World Cup winner dissects Pant's move

Pooran was cleaned up off the first ball as he went for a slog sweep. On the third ball of the over, Aiden Markram was removed too, which meant KKR needed just two runs to win the contest, which they did without any fuss.

Also Read: ‘Couldn’t hit water if he fell out of boat': LSG lambasted, management shredded for ‘criminal’ Nicholas Pooran move

In the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), 12 years ago, Narine made Pooran dance to his tune and didn’t concede a single run in a Super Over. Overall, Pooran’s record against Narine is not bad. In the lead-up to the game, Pooran had scored his runs against Narine at a respectable strike rate of 131.08. In 148 balls, Pooran had been dismissed only four times as he averaged 49 against Narine.

Looking at those numbers, sending in Pooran wasn’t such a bad idea; however, in light of his current form, maybe it was. Last year in the IPL, Pooran struck at 196.25, but this year he has been a pale imitation of his previous self at 81.18.

Poor call for sure!

Braithwaite was surprised by the call that Rishabh Pant made with Pooran. “Baffling decision. Someone, I am not gonna name him, said if Pooran comes out [probably referring to the CPL Super Over mentioned above], it could be a maiden. [It happened] Like, many, many years ago.

“But yeah, he's [Pooran] really struggling. When he's on form, you want him against anyone, but he's not. And with six balls, who are your most in-form players?

"I mean, no one really struck it well on the night, so you're basically going off of profile as such, two countrymen know each other quite well, and maybe there was a fairy-tale feeling, and a bit of fantasy there that, you know, this could potentially get you out of the rut, go and have a swing, and see if you connect a few, and, you know, get a little bit of confidence.

"But ultimately, common sense prevailed, and the bad form continued,” Braithwaite explained what may have led to Pooran’s sending-in.

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