Anshul Kamboj endured a nightmare outing for Chennai Super Kings against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium, as the young pacer was brutally targeted by Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran during a high-scoring IPL 2026 clash. Kamboj entered the match as one of CSK’s leading wicket-takers this season and was even being discussed alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the Purple Cap race.
However, the right-arm pacer struggled badly under pressure, conceding 63 runs in just 2.4 overs in what turned into one of the most expensive spells of the season. The damaging spell included two separate sequences where Kamboj was smashed for four consecutive sixes — first by Mitchell Marsh and later by Nicholas Pooran.
Former India captain Kris Srikkanth believes the turning point came right at the beginning of Marsh’s assault. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth criticised Kamboj’s decision to attack the Australian batter with short-pitched bowling. “What did he bowl first ball? A short-of-a-length delivery. Against Australians, if you bowl short, they’ll punish you badly,” Srikkanth said.
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According to the former selector, Marsh’s early sixes visibly rattled the CSK pacer, who then lost confidence and continued making the same tactical mistake.
Deja Vu, is that you? 🤯
It’s Nicholas Pooran who goes 6️⃣6️⃣6️⃣6️⃣ on this occasion to seal victory 💪👊
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/v1R8RJXPe8#TATAIPL | #KhelBindaas | #LSGvCSK | @LucknowIPL pic.twitter.com/GIpMtQkoMP
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 15, 2026
“From the third ball onwards, if you watch the slow-motion replay carefully, you can notice it in Kamboj’s run-up itself. He got scared after those first two sixes. The fear crept in immediately, and from there he kept bowling shorter and shorter,” he added.
Kris Srikkanth also questioned CSK’s bowling rotation, suggesting the team should have persisted longer with left-arm pacers Mukesh Choudhary and Spencer Johnson, both of whom had bowled disciplined spells earlier in the innings.
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“CSK should have continued bowling good lengths and Test-match lengths with Spencer Johnson and Mukesh,” Srikkanth explained.
Despite the heavy defeat, CSK remain mathematically alive in the IPL 2026 playoff race. However, the five-time champions now face a must-win situation in their remaining league matches while also relying on other results to go in their favour.
