Calling Gambhir a ‘legend’, Naveen said that the former has done a lot for Indian cricket.
Chennai: It was a night to forget for Lucknow Super Giants as they were knocked out of IPL 2023 by Mumbai Indians on Wednesday. MI beat LSG by 81 runs to keep their title hopes alive. Following the loss, LSG pacer Naveen-ul-Haq hailed mentor of the team, Gautam Gambhir. Calling Gambhir a ‘legend’, Naveen said that the former has done a lot for Indian cricket. Naveen also claimed that Gambhir has helped him a lot in upgrading his game.
“Gautam Gambhir is a legend. We all know what he’s done for Indian cricket. I respect him as a mentor and legend of cricket, I learnt a lot from him,” Naveen said at the post-match presser.
Earlier, little-known Uttarakhand engineer Akash Madhwal bowled a dream spell as his five-wicket haul took five-time champions Mumbai Indians one step closer to summit clash after thrashing Lucknow Super Giants by 81 runs in IPL Eliminator.
MI scored 182 for 8 in 20 overs and it seemed 15 short given explosive batting firepower of Lucknow but Madhwal’s incredible figures of 3.3-0-5-5 and some terrific ground fielding led by skipper Rohit Sharma saw Gautam Gambhir mentored side crumble for a paltry 101 in 16.3 overs.
“We were in a good position at one stage, but everything started (going wrong) when I played that shot, we should have played better cricket. That shot (his wicket) was not on, I completely take the blame for that. The ball was coming nicely on to the bat, we just had to bat better. We didn’t play good cricket after that strategic break,” Krunal Pandya said after the loss in Eliminator.
