There has only been one maiden Super Over in the history of T20 cricket, and it was bowled by Sunil Narine to Nicholas Pooran in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in 2014. Yet, as the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) decided their batting duo for the Super Over against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the management chose Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram, with the former on strike. The result was Pooran being bowled on the first delivery by Narine. The decision saw LSG captain Rishabh Pant court plenty of criticism, with fans asking on social media if he wasn’t aware of the history between Pooran and Narine. When LSG coach Justin Langer was asked why Pooran was sent to face Narine despite history favouring the spinner, he said it was important for the management to back the batter, even in tough times.
When Pooran and Narine squared off in that Super Over 12 years ago, the batter failed to connect with the first four deliveries before being caught at long-off on the fifth. This time, he was bowled on the very first ball.
“Good question. We knew that Sunil Narine had bowled it, and if you look at Nicky’s record, he’s seen Sunil Narine more than anyone in world cricket. So we felt that he was still the best option,” Langer said in the press conference, explaining that he backed Pooran to come out on top against Narine, the player he has faced the most in the LSG squad.
“I know he hasn’t hit his form yet, and Nicky will be the first to admit that, but we thought if anyone can handle a Super Over, it’s Nicky Pooran. You back your best players, right? That’s what you do. So he has struggled, but if you look at all the numbers, no one plays Sunil Narine, the world-class off-spinner, better than Nicky. It didn’t come off, unfortunately,” he added.
Langer further called Pooran the world’s best T20 player over the last few years, but admitted that he is lacking confidence at the moment.
“There’s probably no greater T20 player currently in the world over the last few years. It just goes to show he’s human, and you can’t fake confidence. We all try to. You can look confident, but confidence comes from getting your processes right. We’re working every day with him, and he is working very hard to get it back. Sometimes this is a tough game, cricket. My gosh, it’s a tough game,” he said.
Pooran vs Narine in super overs
Balls- 7
Runs- 0
Wickets- 2 pic.twitter.com/o7zdA4Uy9V
— Dinda Academy (@academy_dinda) April 26, 2026
Despite only six games remaining in the league stage and LSG sitting 10th in the standings, Langer is refusing to give up on the team’s chances of making it to the next round. Lucknow now have a seven-day break before they regroup and launch a charge to potentially win all of their remaining six games.
“We’re always hopeful. We’re making it hard for ourselves, but you have to be hopeful. I’m very optimistic. We’ll keep being positive. We’ve got seven days off now until our next game, so it’s a chance for us to have a look at things, see if we need to make any changes, or decide where we’re going to go, but you’ve got to stay positive. If you don’t, there is no point being here,” he concluded.
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