A Tale of Missed Opportunities
If you’re a fan of Bollywood, chances are you’ve watched Ghajini, starring Aamir Khan. In the film, his character suffers from short-term memory loss and constantly forgets key details. To stay focused on his mission, he writes notes and tattoos reminders on his body.
Now, we’re not suggesting Rishabh Pant needs to go that far, but a gentle reminder wouldn’t hurt. Maybe not full-blown tattoos all over his body like Ghajini, but even a small one saying “Use spin more” might just do the trick.
PBKS vs LSG, IPL 2026: Highlights
The match between Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants in Mullanpur left everyone scratching their heads. The events that unfolded were nothing short of confusing, with several tactical missteps that cost LSG dearly.
Pant Forgets His Main Spinner?
When the team sheet dropped, it raised a few eyebrows. Lucknow Super Giants had parked Digvesh Rathi on the bench, a bit like saving your best move for later and then forgetting to use it. Maybe it was the threat of Prabhsimran Singh and Shreyas Iyer, but Rathi had already dismissed Priyansh Arya in a previous meeting. And with Cooper Connolly facing him for the first time, it felt like a matchup just waiting to happen.
Instead, the call went to M. Siddharth, the left-arm spinner who once had Virat Kohli caught at the Chinnaswamy. But before any of that could matter, Punjab Kings had already hit the accelerator. Priyansh and Connolly powered their way to 63 in the powerplay, and just like that, LSG were chasing the game.
And here’s where it got interesting. Or confusing. Or both.
No spin in the powerplay. Not even a teaser. The plan seemed to be pace, pace, and more pace, while Punjab happily kept cashing in.
Spin finally showed up in the seventh over. But not Siddharth. Instead, Ayush Badoni got the nod. Now, Badoni has 17 wickets from 102 T20s, which is not exactly “break glass in case of emergency” numbers. The result? 14 runs, momentum intact.
Siddharth finally rolled his arm over in the eighth. He went for 10 runs, including a boundary. Honestly, in the middle of that storm, it felt like a decent, calming over. The kind where you think, okay, maybe this is the way back.
Except plot twist.
Spin disappeared again. Badoni bowled just that one over. Pace returned, and the next three overs leaked 46 runs. At this point, Punjab weren’t just ahead, they were having fun.
Then came another spin of the wheel. Rishabh Pant went back to spin, but this time it was Aiden Markram. And what followed felt less like a tactical call and more like a dare.
Markram’s over went for 32 runs. Five sixes. Yes, five. In one over. The kind of over that makes scorecards look like typos.
Through all of this, Siddharth was mostly a spectator. Which only added to the head-scratching.
At times, it genuinely felt like Ghajini. A plan made, forgotten, restarted, and then forgotten again. Only difference? No tattoos saying “use your main spinner.”
Unsurprisingly, it caught attention. Ravichandran Ashwin questioned the match-up calls, and Anil Kumble echoed similar concerns. Because when a game keeps offering you the same obvious answer, missing it once is unlucky. Missing it repeatedly starts to look like a pattern.
“There is too much talk of matchups. When there is a left-hander you can’t bowl a left-arm spinner. Siddharth bowled exceptionally well. These matchups play a big role in this decision-making. Ayush Badoni bowled one over. But sometimes you need to look at the ability and quality of the bowler.”
“Siddharth has done well as a powerplay bowler for LSG. He bowled a good spell of three overs and couldn’t complete his quota,” said Kumble.
Funnily enough, Siddharth picked up the dangerous Priyansh with the second ball of his second over and then also accounted for Nehal Wadhera to finish with figures of 2 for 35 in his three overs.
So, it was certainly a trick missed.
DRS Howler
Then there was a moment well before the chaos even had a chance to warm up.
Lucknow Super Giants were actually on top. Prabhsimran Singh was back for a duck, the energy was up, and Cooper Connolly walked in looking let’s just say, not entirely settled on four.
Enter Mohsin Khan with a proper “have a look at this” delivery.
It thudded into Connolly’s pads, and Mohsin was immediately in full appeal mode. Not the casual “might be out” kind, this was the confident “skip, we’re missing something here” kind. At first glance, it looked like it might be sliding down leg, but Mohsin kept at it, trying to convince Rishabh Pant.
Pant? Not convinced. No review. Move on.
And then the replay.
Three reds.
Not one. Not two. Three. The kind that makes you wish DRS came with a rewind button for decisions already made. A proper 50-50 call, yes. But also the kind where you roll the dice because the worst-case scenario is just “umpire’s call, review saved, no harm done.”
“Even if you thought, there was a 30 percent chance of that being out, you have to take that opportunity. It was a massive one and at the end, cost them 80 runs,” said Mitch McCleneghan.
Surely, it was a night Pant would wish he could actually be Ghajini for a while, just so he could forget what happened during the match.
But it was a couple of massive missteps from the Lucknow skipper, and his side ended up paying heavily for it with yet another loss.
