Nicholas Pooran‘s abysmal form has become a major concern for Lucknow Super Giants, as they slipped to their sixth defeat in just eight matches in the ongoing IPL season. On Sunday, LSG faced Kolkata Knight Riders and lost the match in the Super Over after Pooran once again failed to deliver for his team. Known for his explosive hitting and towering sixes, the West Indies batter has struggled to make an impact this season, managing just 82 runs across eight matches.
After both teams were tied at 155 at the end of 20 overs, the contest went into a Super Over, with LSG captain Rishabh Pant sending Pooran out to bat. However, Sunil Narine outfoxed his West Indies teammate on the very first delivery, clean bowling Pooran and restricting LSG to just one run in the Super Over.
Following Pooran’s dismissal, former South Africa pacer Dale Steyn took to X (formerly Twitter) and posted a cryptic message highlighting the batter’s struggles.
“Couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat. Tough times,” Steyn wrote.
Couldn’t hit water if he fell out a boat.
Tough times
— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) April 26, 2026
Apart from the post, Steyn also expressed his frustration over LSG’s decision to send Pooran ahead of other in-form batters to face Narine in such a crucial moment.
“It was a criminal decision to send Nicholas Pooran in the Super Over. It could have gone either way for them, but at this stage of the tournament, you want to win. I don’t think you should send a batter who hasn’t scored runs the entire season. You send the batter who has been hitting the ball out of the ground, and you trust them to do that. You back them. I don’t think Nicholas Pooran himself believes he can do it with the kind of form he’s in,” Steyn said on Star Sports.
“It’s unfortunate because he is such a wonderful player. But when you want to get your season back up and running – when you want to resurrect your season – you don’t make blunders like that, not at this level,” he added.
Both the Super Giants and the Knight Riders finished on 155 after a total of 40 overs were bowled. It was Rinku Singh‘s well-paced 83 not out off 51 balls that proved to be the catalyst for KKR’s total of 155 for 7 earlier.
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