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Former India batsman Wasim Jaffer gave his verdict on which players Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) should retain and whom they should release.
LSG ended their season with a defeat against Punjab Kings on Saturday. Unless something dramatic happens on Sunday, LSG are almost certain to finish last in the IPL 2026 points table.
lsg in ipl 2026
After starting with two wins in their first three matches, the Rishabh Pant-led side lost six consecutive matches. This losing streak pushed both Pant and the team down, making them the first team to be officially eliminated from the playoff race.
LSG have won only 4 of their 14 matches in IPL 2026 and are now out of the playoff race for three consecutive seasons. There is a lot of speculation over what LSG’s next move will be in IPL 2027.
I will definitely retain Mitchell Marsh-Wasim Jaffer
Jaafar was speaking on his YouTube channel when he responded to comments asking for his opinion on which players LSG should let go.
Jaffer said, “Mitchell Marsh, after that, I will retain Pant also, but I will release him and then buy him cheaply. And even Nicholas Pooran. Josh Inglis is also with you; you should not let him go too.”
While Marsh and Inglis have been the bright spots of a bad season, Pant and Pooran have not been so. Marsh has been LSG’s leading run-scorer in the IPL by some distance. He has scored 563 runs in 13 matches at an average of 43 and strike rate of 163. He has also scored 3 fifties and one century.
Rishabh Pant has been the team’s second-highest run-scorer, but his numbers are not up to the standard of a good performance in this tournament, especially in this day and age. He has scored only 312 runs in 14 matches at an average of 28 and strike rate of 138. He could score only one half-century.
Nicholas Pooran found some form after a disappointing start to the tournament, but his overall figures do not make for good reading. In 14 matches, he scored 234 runs at an average of 18 and a strike rate of 128 with one half-century.
Apart from Marsh, Josh Inglis was the only LSG batsman who could really feel that he had a good season with the bat. Despite playing only five matches, he became the team’s third-highest run-scorer with 266 runs. Inglis had an average of 53 and strike rate of 186 and 3 fifties.
He deserves to remain – Wasim Jaffer on uncapped pacer
Jaffer also had kind words for uncapped fast bowler Prince Yadav. Yadav was recently called up to the Indian squad for the ODI series against Afghanistan next month.
With 16 wickets in 14 matches, he was LSG’s leading wicket-taker this year. His wickets came at an average of 29 and an economy of around 9 runs per over.
“In the bowling department, I mean, Prince Yadav has done well, so in my opinion he deserves retention. I don’t think, even though he has not been that effective in the last few matches, but in a losing team, which is already at the bottom of the table and has been eliminated, the results also affect you in some way. But the way he has bowled in difficult conditions, I think he deserves retention,” Jaffer concluded.
Also Read: CSK great asks Rishabh Pant to step down from LSG captaincy ahead of IPL 2027
