"Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran told me to back my strength" - Prerak Mankad

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) batter Prerak Mankad has stated that both Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran told him to back his strength during the match against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Saturday, May 13.

Mankad (64* off 45), Stoinis (40 off 25), and Pooran (44* off 13) played key roles in LSG’s seven-wicket win over SRH at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Chasing 183, Lucknow got home in 19.2 overs.

In a post-match press conference, Mankad opened up on how the senior batters in the team backed him. He said:

“Well, both Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran told me to back my strength, some basic things and that helped me execute the strokes.”

The 29-year-old thanked the team management for having faith in him and sending him into bat at the crucial No. 3 position in the chase. He said:

“It feels amazing to play a big role in the team winning. I am very grateful to the team management and everyone for giving me this huge platform and giving me the opportunity to bat at this number in the order

“I have been playing domestic cricket for the last five to six years in all formats. It helped me a lot. And performances there do help any player. I am glad that the team won the game today [Saturday].”

After 15 overs, LSG were on the back foot, needing 69 more runs to get. However, the 16th over bowled by Abhishek Sharma went for 31 and changed the complexion of the match.

Reflecting on the shift in momentum, Mankad commented:

“We have the firepower, and the big one came in the 16th over.” He added, “It was a decent wicket and the ball was sticking a bit, especially when the bowlers were preferring cross-seam.”

LSG needed only four runs off the last over and Pooran brought up the winning runs by smashing Fazalhaq Farooqi for a boundary.

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“I just informed the team about it” - Mankad on being hit by a metal object

Earlier, in the day, Mankad was hit by a metal object when he was fielding, following a controversy over a no-ball call. Play even had to be halted for a few minutes due to the incident.

Speaking about the same, the LSG batter said:

“I just informed the team about it.”

After the match, LSG fielding coach Jonty Rhodes revealed that Mankad was hit on the head while he was fielding at long-on.