Thu May 22 16:20:00 UTC 2025: ## Lucknow Super Giants Miss Playoffs Again: Injury Woes and Questionable Retention Policies Under Fire

**Lucknow, India** – For the second consecutive year, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have failed to qualify for the IPL playoffs. Their elimination was confirmed on Monday at the Ekana Stadium after a six-wicket loss to the Sunrisers Hyderabad, marking their fourth straight defeat in the 2025 season.

Captain Rishabh Pant attributed the team’s struggles to a string of injuries plaguing their bowling attack. He acknowledged that the inability to effectively fill these gaps severely weakened the team, leading to a dismal second half of the season where they lost five of their last six matches.

“Definitely it could have been one of our best seasons, but coming into the tournament, we had a lot of gaps, injuries and as a team we decided to not talk about that, but it became difficult to fill those gaps for us,” Pant stated after the match.

However, Pant’s explanation has drawn criticism. Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif bluntly called on the franchise to reconsider their retention strategy, urging them to prioritize players who are less prone to injuries, especially those retained for hefty sums.

“I would rather pay money to retain players who can play the full season… for players who are more susceptible to them [injuries], stop retaining them for big money. Instead, pick them up at the auction,” Kaif remarked.

LSG notably invested INR 11 crore in retaining Mayank Yadav, who impressed last season but missed a significant portion of this season due to injury. Mohsin Khan, another retained fast bowler, was also sidelined due to a long-term injury.

Analyst Abhinav Mukund suggested that LSG may have been overly emotional in retaining Mayank Yadav. Meanwhile, former Australian cricketer Tom Moody pointed out that the significant expenditure on retaining star batsmen Rishabh Pant (INR 27 crore) and Nicholas Pooran (INR 21 crore) severely limited the team’s budget for building a robust bowling unit.

“The expense on Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran…makes it very hard to build a very strong bowling unit,” Moody explained, arguing that a well-rounded bowling attack is crucial for success in the IPL.

With questions swirling around their retention policies and team composition, LSG will need to reassess their strategy to avoid a similar fate in future seasons. The team has two games left in the season, but they are playing for pride only.

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