For the second night in the row, the cricket fans were witnesses to a last-ball thriller in IPL 2026.
On Thursday night in Delhi, Capitals’ David Miller failed to finish the game when 2 runs were required off 2 balls against Gujarat Titans. But, on Friday evening in Kolkata, an inexperienced, lesser-known star emerged, as Mukul Choudhary helped Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) seal a chase against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) that looked a lost cause at one point.
Chasing 182 against KKR on what was far from a straightforward Eden Gardens pitch, LSG slumped to 128/7 at the end of the 16th over, with victory now looking a handshake away for KKR.
However, Choudhary, who LSG head coach Justin Langer has vowed to make the “scariest” finisher in India, grabbed that arm and twisted it brutally, breaking the KKR hearts and winning some for himself.
Choudhary blasted 54* runs off 27 balls, his strike rate of 200 being the best in the game across both teams by a distance, to take his side over the line on the last ball of the chase. Choudhary did it all effectively single-handedly: his eighth-wicket partnership with Avesh Khan was worth 54 (24), with Avesh making only one run in it.
The right-hander clobbered two fours and seven sixes, four of them in the last two overs. He had brought the equation down to 7 required off 2 balls and then played the shot of the night: premeditating Vaibhav Arora’s blockhole out-the-off-stump line and length, Choudhary sliced the ball over deep cover, illustrating the immense power despite his slick frame.
On the last ball, even as he missed a pull shot, Choudhary and Avesh sneaked in a bye as wicket-keeper Angkrish Raghuvanshi missed his throw.
LSG vs KKR: So who is Mukul Choudhary, LSG’s hero against KKR?
Mukul is a 21-year-old right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keeper from Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. LSG bought him for INR 2.6 crore, after staving off competition from RR and MI, two teams famous for their highly successful scouting teams.
Choudhary is part of the Rajasthan domestic cricket team. He’s played only a handful of matches in domestic cricket: 4 FC matches, 5 List-A games, and only 7 T20s before the IPL 2026.
In the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26 tournament, Mukul whacked 173 runs in five knocks at a strike rate of 198.
Although Choudhary has featured little in domestic cricket, both Pant and Langer have hailed the talent and ability of Choudhary. Heading into tonight’s encounter versus KKR, Mukul had hit 14 sixes in 9 T20s. Tonight, he smashed seven; that does tell about the kind of wonders he could produce when given the opportunity.
Bagging the Man of the Match award, Mukul Choudhary narrated his journey from Jhunjhunu to the IPL: “Began playing at 12-13 years. There were not a lot of academies (in Jhunjhunu) and then I moved to Jaipur. I saw how much T20 cricket is growing, so I moved to Gurgaon and stayed there for 3-4 months.”
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