Lucknow Super Giants pacer Akash Singh produced a match-turning spell of 3 for 26 against CSK in IPL 2026, removing Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson and Urvil Patel with aggressive pace and discipline.
Key Points
- Lucknow Super Giants pacer Akash Singh starred in his first IPL 2026 appearance with figures of 3 for 26.
- The left-arm pacer removed key CSK batters Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson and Urvil Patel.
- Akash celebrated wickets by displaying a motivational note reading: ‘Akki on fire - Akash knows how to take wickets in T20 game.’
- The pacer said his focus was on dominating mentally and targeting big wickets in the IPL.
Lucknow Super Giants pacer Akash Singh bowled a dream spell in his first game this season, with impressive control and discipline, as he ripped into the Chennai Super Kings' top order to help derail their chances for a spot in the IPL 2026 play-offs.
The left-arm pacer bowled his spell of four overs, bowling consecutive overs while bowling a hard length and testing CSK's top order while taking wickets and being stingy in the Powerplay.
The expressive bowler, took 3 for 26 in his four overs to put the early breaks on CSK. He gave 7 runs in his opening over with Gaikwad clobbering him for a boundary. But LSG skipper Rishabh Pant persisted with him and gave him a second over.
And Akash kept the faith. He made the first breakthrough when he had CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad pull the short, quick ball to mid-on. CSK losing their first wicket and Akash revealing a note from his pocket that read: '#Akki on fire - Akash knows how to take wickets in T20 game.'
His next victim Sanju Samson attempted an aggressive pull shot to a rising delivery but mistimed the ball and it went down to Mukul Choudhary near the square-leg boundary.
Akash then had the dangerous and in form Urvil Patel miscue a pull and caught at deep mid-wicket by Mitch Marsh. Akash flashed that after taking each of his wickets.
'I was happy, but at the same time when you are not playing regularly in the IPL, you have to keep pushing yourself constantly,' he said at the mid-innings break.
'Throughout the season and even in the off-season, I kept working hard, practicing and focusing on whatever was in my control. Thankfully today the process I had been following worked. I was trying to bowl according to what the wicket needed and also according to the weaknesses of the batters. In the IPL you can't keep playing games back-to-back with the exact same plans because teams study you very quickly.'
Talking of his execution, he said: 'We knew from the previous game how they had dominated and where their weaknesses were, so my attempt was to combine my style with those areas and execute accordingly. That was the plan and thankfully it worked. (What the plans against Ruturaj and Samson?) My mindset is always about getting big wickets because when you come to the IPL, you shouldn't just come to play - you should come to dominate. That mindset is very important. If you don't think like that, then in a league like this where batting is getting stronger every single day, you will always stay behind. You need to stay one step ahead skill-wise, but at the same time the mental side matters a lot to me.'
'If you don't dominate mentally in this game, you can't move forward consistently. That's why my approach is always to dominate and honestly the batter's name doesn't matter too much to me. I try to think like I'm bowling in single-wicket cricket where execution matters the most. In those situations, your body flows naturally and the ball goes exactly where you want it to. So I focus on execution and going after big wickets. Obviously getting big batters out gives a different kind of happiness and if you look at my IPL record, most of my wickets are big players because that's always been my mindset.'
He also opened up about the reason behind his celebration.
'I think it motivates me. There's no deeper story behind it. On that note I had written things like ‘Akki knows how to take wickets in T20 cricket'. It just motivates me during the game. Sometimes these things work, sometimes they don't, but if something helps me stay motivated and helps me perform better, then I'm willing to do it. That's what matters most to me.'
Impressed with Akash's outing, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka wrote on X: 'Akash, three crucial wickets tonight. Well done. The note says it all, you showed exactly how to take those wickets in a T20 game. Keep at it, Akki. Proud of you. @LucknowIPL.'
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