Sanjiv Goenka for Lucknow Super Giants and Preity Zinta for Punjab Kings are perhaps the two most most visible owners for their respective teams in the Indian Premier League, popular figures who are regularly seen at their teams’ matches over the course of the summer. LSG and PBKS faced off at the PCA Stadium in Mullanpur on Sunday night, allowing the respective owners to take to the field and interact with players from either team.
LSG owner Goenka is slightly infamous for his on-field chats with his team captains, having shared a fictitious relationship with KL Rahul and more recently with Rishabh Pant as he doesn’t shy away from having his thoughts heard. After LSG’s 54-run loss on Sunday night, he was in conversation with a player from the opposite team – player of the match Priyansh Arya, who had bulldozed his way to 93 off 37 in the first innings.
Elsewhere, the LSG captain Rishabh Pant was having a chat of his own, with PBKS owner Preity Zinta. Standing in a group alongside Yuzvendra Chahal and Shashank Singh, the Indian wicketkeeper had a conversation with the famous PBKS owner.
PBKS thoroughly outclass LSG
Earlier in the day, it was Preity Zinta’s team which continued its incredible run of form at the start of the season, picking up their fifth win in six unbeaten matches to regain their position at the top of the table. Arya’s carnage in combination with Cooper Connolly, plus a late burst from Shashank and Stoinis, helped PBKS to a mammoth 254.
It was always going to be a little too much, especially against an LSG team which is still attempting to find its footing and its identity. LSG slipped to their third loss in a row, which has completely reversed the momentum of their season. Now hungry to taste some wins again, the chafing 54-run loss means there is plenty to be done behind the scenes.
Pant will be hoping to find some good form himself, and he might like to take some notes from Priyansh, a powerful left-handed batter who also hails from Delhi, and is currently having greater success bludgeoning the ball, something Pant needs to redevelop to find the best version of himself.