Ajinkya Rahane was impressed with Mukul Choudhary after Kolkata Knight Riders' narrow defeat to Lucknow Super Giants in their IPL 2026 fixture on Thursday. The 21-year-old smashed an unbeaten knock of 54* runs off 27 balls, guiding LSG to a three-wicket victory.
Mukul arrived to bat in the 13th over, with LSG crumbling to 104/5 in their chase of 182 runs. He began on a cautious note, but after the dismissals of Ayush Badoni and Mohammed Shami, he took on Vaibhav Arora in the 17th over, slamming him for a four and then a six. In the third delivery of the over, he received a slow, short delivery, which he pulled to his left at deep square leg for a four, followed by a six over long-on.
The 18th over saw Mukul attack Kartik Tyagi. In the first delivery, he received a slow delivery, which he hammered over long-off for a six. Then in the fourth ball, he brutally launched him over long-on for a six. The 19th over saw Mukul destroy Cameron Green, hitting two sixes and a four as LSG got to 168/7, needing 14 off six balls.
{{/usCountry}}The 18th over saw Mukul attack Kartik Tyagi. In the first delivery, he received a slow delivery, which he hammered over long-off for a six. Then in the fourth ball, he brutally launched him over long-on for a six. The 19th over saw Mukul destroy Cameron Green, hitting two sixes and a four as LSG got to 168/7, needing 14 off six balls.
{{/usCountry}}Rahane decided to go with Arora in the final over and Mukul hit him for a six in the first ball. Then in the fifth delivery, he smacked another six, getting his half-century as the scores got level. In the final delivery, it was one run due to byes as LSG pulled of a stunning win.
Ajinkya Rahane hails Mukul Choudhary
Speaking after the match, Rahane said, "I thought Mukul's (Choudhary) knock was defining. The way he played his shots, he was brave. But again, games like these, you don't want to pinpoint too many things. I thought till 18 overs, we were going really good. Last two overs, execution here and there can happen. But credit to Mukul and that partnership."
"Two overs, 30 runs to win. Every ball it was about swinging. And I thought as I said he was really brave to play those shots. There were some brilliant shots. I thought there a couple of brilliant deliveries (bowled), but the way he batted was amazing. Nothing, I mean, probably in the fielding, I'd say a couple of misfielding [misfields], but apart from that, I thought our bowlers did a brilliant job.
"But in the end, I thought, let's give credit to the batter, the way he (Mukul) batted. (any thought to crowd Avesh for the first ball of the last over?) The intention was to keep Avesh (Khan) on strike. But again, we had to keep five fielders up because of the field restriction and the time limit. So it's tough on bowlers as well. When you have five fielders inside the circle, especially bowling the last over, it's tough," he added.