IPL 2023: LSG skipper Krunal Pandya reveals reason behind dropping Quinton de Kock from playing XI in Eliminator contest

Lucknow Super Giants’ campaign at the IPL 2023 came to an end on Wednesday, May 24 when Mumbai Indians defeated them in the Eliminator and knocked them out of the tournament. LSG suffered an 81-run defeat as the Rohit Sharma-led side restricted them to 101 in 16.3 overs while chasing a target of 183. LSG changed their starting lineup for the important match and made the risky decision to bench Quinton de Kock. 

In de Kock's absence, LSG called Kyle Mayers back into the playing combination as the Windies batter played in the second half of the game, as an impact player. The last time LSG played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Mayers struck a thunderous 50, but he was unable to match that performance and was bowled out by Chris Jordan for 18 from 13 balls in the fourth over.

Lucknow were in trouble after Mayers was dismissed since they dropped to 23/2 in the 183-run chase, but skipper Krunal Pandya and all-rounder Marcus Stoinis stabilised the situation moving forward. The duo stitched up a 46-run stand for the third wicket before Pandya was eventually dismissed by Piyush Chawla in the ninth over.

With just 42 runs scored by the final seven batters for Lucknow after Pandya's dismissal, the game was over with 21 balls remaining. During the post-match presentation, Pandya was questioned about the surprise decision to rest de Kock, to which he replied:

“Quinton de Kock is a quality batter, but Kyle Mayers has a better record here (Chepauk), so we went ahead (in the playing XI) with him.”

Speaking of Lucknow's campaign this year, Lucknow's campaign, De Kock was not included in the starting lineup until KL Rahul was forced to withdraw from the competition due to an injury. The wicketkeeper then opened the innings with Mayers. The team was forced to rely on Indian quicks because Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis appeared to be valuable middle-order batsmen, but this didn't work out well for them.

The team then removed Mayers from the XI before adding him back to the XI for the crucial Eliminator, a decision that didn't have much of an impact, in order to inject an international pacer into the mix.