Anshul Kamboj had been enjoying a memorable IPL 2026 campaign until Lucknow on Friday, where Mitchell Marsh’s destructive streak and Nicholas Pooran’s timing in the moment left him reeling.
In the third over of the Lucknow Super Giants’ innings, Kamboj conceded just 11 runs in his opening spell of the match. However, the fifth over brought a sudden shift. Marsh punished him for 28 in that over, striking 6, 6, 6 and 6 off the first four balls. On the fifth delivery, Kamboj’s foot came in the way of what looked like another heavy hit, but the over still ended with a four. After that, Kamboj was pushed well away from the action before coming back in the 17th over, when Chennai Super Kings were left with only 24 runs to protect. Pooran did the same early damage as Marsh, smashing 6, 6, 6 and 6 off the opening four balls, and the contest was effectively sealed from there.
“The guy has been bowling so well throughout the season, so you’re always going to have a bad day,” Ambati Rayudu said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show. “It’s like getting a duck—you’re getting a golden duck.”
Rayudu added: “When you look at most of the balls he bowled, apart from that last delivery in the [fifth] over to Mitch Marsh [down the leg side], most of the other balls were decent. Decent deliveries. It’s just some unbelievable hitting. He’s run into Mitch Marsh and Nicholas Pooran, and those two are clearly finding form.”
From LSG’s perspective, the spell also served as a reminder of what might have been, had Marsh and Pooran—two key batting pillars for the franchise last season—arrived in IPL 2026 earlier rather than hitting their stride later.
Mitchell McClenaghan pointed out how unforgiving T20 bowling can be. “That’s where it sucks to be a bowler, I have to say,” he said. “A batter can be having a terrible day and then suddenly get sweet—just hit one straight up.”
He continued: “That’s hard. It’s basically the perfect storm, isn’t it? You’ve got Mitch Marsh, who’s in good form. You’ve got LSG out of the competition. So you’ve got a player who doesn’t mind getting out because it doesn’t carry the same pressure for the tournament. He’s just swinging.”
Marsh struck a brilliant 90 off 38 balls, while Pooran finished unbeaten on 32 from 17 deliveries. Pooran was on 8 off 13 balls before he launched the final assault on Kamboj. LSG ultimately defeated CSK by seven wickets with 20 balls still remaining.
Rayudu suggested CSK lacked a few “smart heads” on the field—experienced voices who could have steadied Kamboj when the situation went wrong. He specifically hinted at MS Dhoni.
“When you look at CSK at the ground, there don’t seem to be that many smart heads, experienced heads,” Rayudu said. “Players who can control things—go up to him and give him a quick pat, like: ‘Boss, just wait, hang on for ten seconds, tie your laces up.’”
He added: “There aren’t many cricket smarts out there, except maybe Sanju [Samson]. And he’s generally not the kind of person who… it’s too far away. It’s not like he will step in.”
Rayudu proposed a different approach as well. “Maybe you ask him what a slower ball can do—do you think it will work? So that clicks his thinking,” he said. “Don’t ever suggest it directly. Just ask a question: ‘Do you think we can go that route? Do you think we can bowl a yorker now? Do you think it will work?’ You change the chain of thought. Just get him out of that moment—don’t let him get lost.”
McClenaghan agreed. “I think that’s a really good point,” he said. “Sometimes it’s almost frustrating when the keeper comes up because it looks bad. It almost feels worse. But you’re right—you need a senior leader at mid-on or mid-off to do that. Like the guys around the world who do it so well: Chris Jordan and the [Kieron] Pollards, those sort of players. You know… just…”
As it turned out, Kamboj returned figures of 0 for 63 from 2.4 overs. For a bowler who had 19 wickets in the season and was still third on the Purple Cap standings, it felt like a heavy jolt back to earth.
