Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has picked the lack of experienced Indian batters, apart from KL Rahul, as one of the weaknesses of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL 2024. Rahul also played only nine games in IPL 2023 before he was ruled out of the tournament due to a thigh injury as well. Notably, the other Indian batters failed to do well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “Do they have a potential weakness? Among Indian batters, Deepak Hooda’s form went awry last time. So Prerak Mankad, Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya’s batting form. Whether to bat Ayush Badoni up the order or not?. They seemed slightly stuck there because as soon as KL Rahul got injured, the lack of experience in the Indian batting department came to the fore. They still don’t have a big Indian batter apart from KL Rahul.”

While talking about Devdutt Padikkal’s addition to the lineup, Chopra said that he needs to bat in the top three. He also stated that LSG were overly dependent on their overseas batters last season. He further added that the franchise will hope that KL Rahul, Deepak Hooda and
Padikkal keep their good form.

“You can talk about Devdutt Padikkal but he did not have a good last year in the IPL because he wasn’t batting at a good number. They would want to bat him at a good number this time. He should have a confirmed slot in the top three. The lack of experience in Indian fast bowling. Once again, lack of experience is a common thread. You can see that in the form of Indian batters, finishers and bowlers. Although I rate Yash Thakur very highly, he missed a lot of first-class cricket this year. Mohsin Khan has come after dealing with injuries for sure, but we might see Mayank Yadav playing for the first time. So overseas very, very experienced, but Indian experienced players are only a handful,” Aakash Chopra concluded.