Virender Sehwag Rips Lucknow Super Giants Management Apart for Making ‘Brainless’ Decisions

Virender Sehwag has also called for captaincy change across several IPL franchises this season, specifically Rajasthan and Lucknow.

Virender Sehwag Rips Lucknow Super Giants Management Apart for Making ‘Brainless’ Decisions

Virender Sehwag slammed LSG's team management for its erratic decision-making against KKR. (via BCCI/Cricbuzz)

In Short
  • Virender Sehwag criticized Lucknow Super Giants' management for poor tactical decisions after their Super Over loss to KKR.
  • LSG has only won two out of eight matches in IPL 2026, placing them at the bottom of the table.
  • Sehwag suggested a potential captaincy change, with Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh being considered to replace Rishabh Pant.

Legendary Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag criticized the Lucknow Super Giants management, even going to the extent of calling them ‘brainless’ after their Super Over loss to the KKR in an IPL 2026 clash. He asserted that the tactical errors directly caused LSG to miss their chance at victory.

LSG slipped to the bottom of the IPL table after suffering a last-gasp defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders. They failed to chase down a 156-run target, only to take the match to the Super Over. The one-over shootout ended KKR’s way, as Sunil Narine restricted the home side to just a run, while picking up the wickets of Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram. POTM Rinku Singh finished the game with a four off the first ball of the Super Over chase. 

The Lucknow-based franchise has only won two, while losing six out of the eight matches that they have played in the IPL 2026 season so far. The biggest talking point of the Super Over was a tactical error that the Rishabh Pant-led side ended up in making, sending a woefully out-of-form Nicholas Pooran out to bat against Sunil Narine, who sent his stumps in the air on the very first ball of that over. 

Virender Sehwag was left furious, and he did not hold back in criticizing the LSG management for its lapses. He went to the extent of questioning their intelligence, including big names like Justin Langer, Tom Moody, and Kane Williamson.

The 47-year-old’s frustration was directed towards Lucknow’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss, arguing that the coaches failed to realize the fact that the team has faltered during tense chases. 

You [LSG] have a director of cricket, and a coach. Kane Williamson, Justin Langer and Tom Moody are all there. Inka kya dimag nahi chalta? [Don’t they think?] The team is not being able to bat, and still they are winning the toss and inviting the opposition to bat.

Virender Sehwag said on postmatch analysis show of Cricbuzz

In fact, LSG had lost both its previous encounters while chasing, against Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals. Sehwag suggested that the team could have easily chosen to bat first and posted a modest total of 140-150 runs. Furthermore, Sehwag went on to imply that the legendary names in the dugout have all been useless because of their failure to make common-sense adjustments. 

You are not able to chase, but you are hell-bent and fixated on wanting to chase. Ye kahan ki samajhdari hai? Kaun le raha hai decisions? [How wise is this? Who is taking all these calls?]

Following the narrow defeat, talk has also emerged about a potential captaincy change for LSG. South African and Australian T20I captains, Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh, are being touted to take over from Rishabh Pant. 

Virender Sehwag deems Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s controversial KKR-LSG dismissal as ‘harsh’

Former India opener and 2011 World Cup winner Virender Sehwag deemed Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s dismissal during the KKR-LSG clash as ‘harsh’. The right-hander was controversially declared out in the fifth over of the chase for obstructing the field. 

Angkrish Raghuvanshi out Virender Sehwag
Angkrish Raghuvanshi was given out for ‘obstructing the field’, a decision that Virender Sehwag felt was harsh. (via India Today)

Raghuvanshi was attempting to rush back towards the crease at the striker’s end, after his batting partner, Cameron Green, refused to take a run. Mohammed Shami threw the ball towards the end, and it hit the batter on his back while he dived. LSG appealed immediately, with the umpires ruling that the Mumbai-born batter had indeed changed his running line to stop the throw from reaching the stumps. 

Sehwag asserted that the KKR batter was not out, exclaiming that it is natural for batters to look towards the fielder during a run, in order to determine whether it is safe or not. He added that Raghuvanshi was doing the same, and he had only dived to get back to his crease in time before the ball hit the stumps. He felt that the move was not pre-meditated from the youngster.

I believe it’s not out. When he [Angkrish Raghuvanshi] turned, he was looking at the fielder to see where the ball was coming from. But after turning, he ran and jumped. He wasn’t looking at the fielder anymore. In my opinion, a slightly harsh decision has been made here.

The 21-year-old is now the fourth player in IPL history to be given out in such a way, after Yusuf Pathan (2013), Amit Mishra (2019) and Ravindra Jadeja (2024). Raghuvanshi was visibly furious after the umpire’s decision, and he even threw his bat while walking towards the dugout.

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