Not long after witnessing Mukul Choudhary’s breathtaking hitting that helped Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pull off a dramatic last-ball finish versus Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), head coach Justin Langer described the knock as a defining “massive moment” for the young batter’s life and career.
Speaking on the post-match broadcast, Langer said, “There aren’t many players like Tim David or Andre Russell—and I’m not even going to try to compare him—but that’s essentially how his career has unfolded. He’s become accustomed to finishing games in that fashion, so he has that mindset. He’s only 22 (21) years old.”
Choudhary’s heroics came when LSG were staring at defeat in their chase of 182, having slipped to 128 for 7. Even though the innings featured a few significant strikes from Choudhary, KKR continued to hold the upper hand, leaving LSG needing 43 runs from the final three overs. What happened next was an eye-catching surge: Choudhary struck a massive six over deep cover off Kartik Tyagi, then followed it with another six in the same over. In the penultimate over, he added a run of 6, dot, 4 and 6 off Cameron Green, tightening the equation to 14 required from the last six deliveries. In the final over, he struck two more sixes, and the chase was completed with the winning runs coming via a bye.
Langer further highlighted Choudhary’s hunger and mindset. “He’s so young, and you can see that look in his eyes—he’s hungry,” he said. “When you’re new, you try so hard, and this win—this will be a massive moment in his life and his career. What I admire is that we could spot certain qualities early on. We’re seeing it on the screen now, and we’ve already seen that side of his game. But he’s also worked away on the short ball. We’ve been running drills with him every day, and today it showed up in practice and then translated onto the field.”
When asked what he was thinking as defeat seemed to gather momentum before the late twist in the match, Langer replied, “I was probably focused on what I was going to say to our players. I believed we bowled brilliantly on this wicket. In fact, I even noted it down—whether we won or lost, our bowling was excellent. Our fielding was elite as well, so I was genuinely pleased with that.”
After suffering a setback in their opening encounter, LSG have bounced back with consecutive wins and are hovering near the top four positions early in the group stage. “If you win the tight ones, you carry a little extra belief,” Langer said. “It doesn’t matter whether it happens through the ball, whether you’re able to pull a team back, or if it’s a nail-biting result like this. Those close wins act like a bit of magic tonic, don’t they?”
LSG will now take on Gujarat Titans at home next, with the match scheduled for April 12.
