Mark Wood fills the team’s exotic fast bowler slot. His 150+ km/h balls are scary, but even scarier is his injury track record. Andrew Tye filled in for Lucknow last season when he was unable to play due to injury. This time Lucknow also have Naveen ul Haq in their hands. However, if Mark Wood were to drop out in the middle, the effect would be huge.
Last season Mosin Khan excelled in bowling with 14 wickets in 9 matches. He suffocated the opposition with an economy of 5.97. Especially in the middle and death overs, Lucknow’s hand was strengthened by him. Injuries tied up what should have been a peek inside the Indian team. He is still not fully recovered. It is a big loss for the team that it is doubtful to play the whole series! Avesh Khan, another fast bowler of the team, took 18 wickets last season but failed to control the run leakage.
Lucknow picked Unathkat, Romario and Sams in a mini-auction so that the fast bowling should not suffer due to all this. However, if an international-class fast bowler had been given even an iota of what he was given to Puran, he would have been a better partner for Mark Utd than Naveen ul Haq and would have taken wickets.
Last time they made frequent changes not only in the playing eleven but also in the batting positions which hurt them. Try to fix it this time.
So, here and there, the Lucknow team is riddled with a few weaknesses that scare the very best. What will be interesting is how Captain Rahul will face all these setbacks even under pressure.
