Quinton de Kock was left out of the Lucknow Super Giants squad against Mumbai Indians in their IPL 2023 Eliminator.
Chennai: In what came as a biggest shock, Lucknow Super Giants did not include opener Quinton de Kock against Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator at M Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday.
However, neither the team management nor the organisers made any official comments on de Kock’s omission from the team against Mumbai Indians. It is still unsure if the South African injured himself in training.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat against Lucknow Super Giants. MI made a change in their playing XI, with Hrithik Shokeen coming in for Kumar Karikeya.
De Kock, who arrived two matches late in IPL 2023, didn’t get much chances as he would have liked, thanks to Kyle Mayers good form at the top. The wicketkeeper batter played just four matches in the ongoing tournament, scoring 143 runs with a best of 70 against Gujarat Titans.
With no QDK at the top, it will come down to Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis to do all the hard work in the middle order. LSG are playing in their second consecutive Indian Premier League playoffs. LSG are without regular skipper KL Rahul who was ruled out midway due to injury.
“It has been an up and down season, but we have fought and never gave up. We have match winners, it’s a team effort from us, that’s a really good sign. We have covered all bases, just need to execute our skills. We would have batted first as well, but now we have to play some good cricket,” said stand-in-captain Krunal Pandya at the coin toss.
LSG vs MI Playing Xis
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (w), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Chris Jordan, Hrithik Shokeen, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal.
Lucknow Super Giants: Krunal Pandya (c), Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, Prerak Mankad, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran (w), Krishnappa Gowtham, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Yash Thakur, Mohsin Khan.
