Top News

Kolkata, Apr 9 (PTI): Lucknow Super Giants skipper Rishabh Pant on Thursday heaped praise on Mukul Choudhary for taking the side over the line with his breath-taking unbeaten knock in the IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders, describing it as a fantastic effort.

Chasing 182, LSG were in big trouble at 104 for 5 in 12.5 overs when Mukul came on to the crease. He showed his batting prowess, remaining unbeaten on 54 off 27 balls with the help of two fours and seven sixes to help his side register a three-wicket win in a last ball thriller.

"I do not have words to describe but what a fantastic effort (from Mukul). One thing I made sure is that personally, that trust and when you believe in someone, a player can do wonders. The character, with each and every match like this, it shows something is building. We don't want to talk much about it but something is cooking inside," Pant said at the post match presentation.

Pant also lauded Ayush Badoni for his crucial 34-ball 54-run knock in the middle. "He (Badoni) is now a senior pro in our team. That is the role we have given him. In a situation like him, when we talk about Badoni, these are the kind (of contributions) you want to see from Badoni." KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane said the defeat against LSG was a tough one to swallow, but credited Mukul Choudhary's defining unbeaten knock.

"Tough one to take but really proud of the boys for the way we played. Mukul's knock was defining. The execution here and there can happen in the last two overs but credit to Mukul for that partnership.

"For them it was nothing to lose, 2 overs 30 runs so it was all about swinging hard every ball. Couple of balls were good balls but he batted brilliantly," Rahane said.

"When you lose a game it's easy to know what we could have done better. 180 odd on this wicket wasn't easy. Let's give credit to the batter for the way he batted. Intention was to keep Avesh on strike. We had to field five fielders up and it's tough on the bowlers," he added. PTI SSC SSC PDS PDS

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)