Aakash Chopra lauds Nicholas Pooran’s knock in LSG’s IPL 2025 win vs GT

Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra hailed Nicholas Pooran after Lucknow Super Giants registered a six-wicket win against Gujarat Titans at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Saturday.

Chasing a target of 181 runs for the win, Pooran continued his purple patch as he scored 61 runs off just 34 balls with the help of one four and seven sixes. The left-hander has been in amazing form as he has scored 349 runs in six matches of IPL 2025 at an average of 69.80 and a blistering strike rate of 215.43.

Pooran has smashed a total of 31 sixes in the ongoing tournament. Furthermore, Aiden Markram scored a crucial knock of 58 runs off 31 balls in the absence of Mitchell Marsh.

“It seemed like 180 runs might be enough as Mitchell Marsh wasn’t there. However, Mitchell Marsh not being there didn’t make any difference. Aiden Markram is batting well. The first two or three matches didn’t go well, and we were wondering whether he would be dropped. However, Markram played extremely well,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel

“Then came Nicholas Pooran. How well he is batting. He has already hit 31 sixes in six matches, and the entire CSK team have together hit 32 sixes. He hit 36 sixes in total last year, and this year, he has already hit 31. It seems like he is not thinking about where to hit sixes but how far he should hit,” he added.

On the other hand, Chopra hailed the opening duo of Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill, who scored 56 and 60 runs respectively. The pair added 120 runs for the opening alliance off 73 balls.

“The special thing about Gujarat is 120 runs in 12 overs, and that’s their story. That was the game. Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill were batting like a dream. Both were batting extremely well, but they got out one after the other, and the game changed, and it was never the same again,” he said in the same video.

The renowned commentator feels GT could not finish on a high as they managed only 60 runs off the next 48 balls.

“If you had reached 120 runs in 12 overs, 210-220 runs should have been scored. However, only 180 were scored. Only 60 runs were scored in the next eight overs, and you lost six wickets. Sherfane Rutherford once again couldn’t do the job properly. The slight weakness there got exposed a little,” Chopra elaborated.

LSG will next take on CSK at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Monday.