On Monday, May 19, during Match 61 of the IPL 2025 between the Lucknow Super Giants and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Ekana International Cricket Stadium, a Sam Curran impersonator was observed. He was spotted immediately following Ayush Badoni’s dismissal on the 18th over’s fourth delivery.
The doppelgänger was identified as Jake Jeanings, a well-known YouTuber and ardent fan of Australian cricket. After Badoni sliced the ball to deep cover to take the fourth wicket to fall for LSG, Jeanings was seen wearing the SRH jersey and celebrating for the SRH team.
The tournament was postponed during IPL 2025 because of India-Pakistan conflicts, meaning Curran’s involvement with the league ended then. He did not decide to travel back to India before the competition continues on May 17. He was not among the 13 picked to represent England in the one-off Test versus Zimbabwe.
The Pat Cummins-led SRH chose to field first after winning the toss before the game. At the conclusion of the powerplay, Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram led their team to 69/0. Following their respective half-centuries (65 off 39 and 61 off 38), the two were removed. Rishabh Pant, the captain, had yet another poor batting performance (seven off six).
Nicholas Pooran provided a crucial 26-ball 45 before three wickets, including Pooran’s, were taken in the penultimate over of the innings. In the end, LSG posted 205/7. Eshan Malinga took two wickets for only 28 runs during his four overs for Sri Lanka. Harsh Dubey and Harshal Patel were too costly for the Panthers, with 1 and 1 wicket each.
