Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has questioned Nicholas Pooran’s commitment after Lucknow Super Giants suffered a seven-wicket loss against Gujarat Titans at Lucknow on Sunday. Pooran could only manage 19 runs off 21 balls against GT and thus failed to get going.

The left-hander has managed only 41 runs in four matches of IPL 2026 at an average of 10.25 and a strike rate of 85.41 and thus he hasn’t been able to deliver the goods for the franchise.

Furthermore, Pooran hasn’t been at his absolute best in the field and was seen not giving his 100%.

“Nicholas Pooran is a huge cause of concern, a massive cause of concern. The way he stands in the field, I don’t know. What has he not been given? LSG retained him as the first player, he has to return the dividends,” R Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

“You have to bring Josh Inglis somehow into this team, even Matthew Breetzke will do. Please give Nicholas Pooran a break. People were telling me why I was advocating for Rishabh Pant to open the innings? Rishabh Pant does not hit sixes anymore in T20 cricket. This season, before the match against GT, he had not hit a single six. I had said that Pant should open because he will be able to use the fielding limitations. If he plays the first six overs and scores 35-40 runs, then there will be a tempo,” he added.

Meanwhile, Jos Buttler scored 60 runs off 37 balls in the run-chase of 165 and Ashwin said the best thing for GT is that the English batter is back in form.

“There was an expectation from LSG that this might happen. The best thing for GT now is that Jos Buttler has found form, he has come into form now. The way he was playing in the World Cup, I was seriously concerned that if Buttler played in that way, it would be a serious problem for GT,” Ashwin said.

LSG will next take on RCB at Bengaluru on Wednesday whereas GT will face KKR at Ahmedabad on Friday.