The harder you try, the worse it gets

Former Australian captain Aaron Finch reckons that Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) batter Nicholas Pooran is perhaps trying a bit too hard to work his way out of his wretched batting form. He urged Pooran to relax a bit and loosen his grip.

Pooran has been in awful form in IPL 2026. In five innings, he has managed just 42 runs at an average of 8.40 and a strike rate of 76.36, with a best of 19. Against RCB, he was dismissed for 1 off 7 balls. The southpaw tried to pull a delivery from Josh Hazlewood, but dragged the ball back on the stumps.

During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo, Finch shared his thoughts on Pooran’s shocking run with the willow. He commented:

“That sometimes just happens. Sometimes, the harder you try, the worse it gets. You grip the bat tighter. You try and hit the ball. You try and force against everything that is working against you. Sometimes you just take a deep breath. If your arms are relaxed and your hands are nice and loose, it can come back so quick.”

Before being dismissed for 1 against RCB, Pooran had registered scores of 8, 1, 13 and 19 in IPL 2026.

“There might be some fatigue there” – Ambati Rayudu on Pooran’s struggles for LSG in IPL 2026

According to former India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Ambati Rayudu, Pooran might be struggling for rhythm because he is playing non-stop T20 league in various parts of the world. Rayudu explained that the LSG star is not getting enough time to work on his game and reduce the flaws in it. He elaborated:

“Someone like Pooran is playing all around the world. He is not really getting enough time to work on himself and his game. Maybe getting a break somewhere and then coming back and having a nice pre-season for a month and a half… Getting back to basics and getting that whole routine going again. There might be some fatigue there. It can happen. Your clarity goes down. You decision making is not as good.”

Pooran had an excellent IPL 2025 campaign for LSG. In 14 innings, he had smashed 524 runs at an average of 43.66 and a strike rate of 196.25, with the aid of five half-centuries. However, he has struggled over the last few months. In nine innings in ILT20, he scored 267 runs at a strike rate of 117.62.