SRH vs LSG: Avesh Khan’s celebration sparks debate as Rishabh Pant hits winning run, ‘Such clowns should be banned’

Lucknow Super Giants registered their first win of IPL 2026 on 5 April. They secured a 5-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

Captain Rishabh Pant led from the front with an unbeaten 68, guiding his team to the target with one ball remaining. However, the match ended with a controversial moment involving Avesh Khan.

As Pant finished the game in style with a boundary, Avesh appeared to strike the ball before it crossed the boundary while celebrating.

This raised questions around ICC rules. Any interference by a non-fielder can lead to a dead ball and a 5-run penalty. Despite this, on-field umpires did not intervene, and no penalty was awarded.

Some analysts and fans argued that, if the rule had been applied, the match situation could have changed. LSG would have possibly needed more runs to win.

Earlier, Avesh played a key role in the match by picking 2 crucial wickets in the 19th over, including that of Heinrich Klaasen.

Avesh Khan’s action sparked a debate on social media. While some thought it LSG should have been penalised, others think it was an obvious boundary.

Many online users referred to ICC Law 20.1 (Dead Ball) and Law 41 (Unfair Play). Interference by a non-fielder can result in a 5-run penalty being awarded to the opposing team.

“Why is Avesh Khan so annoying? First, he smashed his helmet, then hit the ball with his bat even though it hadn’t reached the boundary. The umpire should ban him for one match, or the umpire should do that delivery dead ball,” wrote a social media user.

“He needs to calm down in such situations. Always create some scenes out of nothing, but as a viewer, I want fights to happen, so I'm disappointed that SRH didn't fight for this,” posted another user.

“This was ridiculous from Avesh Khan; there was no need for this. What if SRH appealed against it? What if Umpire call it a dead ball?” commented another user.

Another user wrote, “4 hi dete most probably but using bat was unnecessary. Most of the substitutes take the ball before reaching the boundary line and hand it over to the main fielders, so dead ball toh nhi hota.”

“It was 4, and they knew the match was over. So, I don't think anyone would raise any objection,” came from another.

Another user slammed Khan, “Such clowns should not be banned for 1 match, but for the entire season.”

SRH vs LSG: What happened in yesterday’s match?

LSG bowlers reduced SRH to trouble early, dismissing Abhishek Sharma for a duck and Travis Head for 7.

For Hyderabad, key contributions were from Heinrich Klaasen (62) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (56). The duo added 116 runs for the 5th wicket, helping SRH recover after early setbacks.

Despite the strong partnership, SRH lost momentum in the final overs. SRH posted 156/9.

In reply, LSG started steadily with Aiden Markram and Mitch Marsh contributing early runs. However, it was Pant who anchored the chase with a calm and controlled innings. He ensured LSG stayed on track despite losing wickets at intervals.