Lucknow Super Giants aim for a second playoffs appearance in their fourth season and need their stars to perform
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will be looking to turn a new leaf after three seasons of unconvincing and inconsistent results. While fellow new-entrant Gujarat Titans won the title in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, LSG managed to reach the playoffs and then fell off the top four races in the 2023 and 2024 by a good distance.
They have a new captain in Rishabh Pant and a long roster of talented domestic players. However, they are not stacked with overseas match winners like previous seasons which didn’t work out for them.
However, they still can challenge for a top 4 finish if these four players can perform well.
It’s no-brainer that Pant is going to be pivotal for LSG’s fortunes in IPL 2025. The keeper-batter was the fulcrum around which Delhi Capitals’ batting worked over the past few seasons. Last year, he single-handedly carried the entire batting unit of DC with 446 runs from 13 matches at a strike rate of 155 which included three fifties. However, the rest of his team weren’t on the same wavelength as him which led to their downfall. This year with LSG, Pant will have a big bunch of young players whom he can inspire and bring the unity he lacked at DC.
Miller is going through a topsy-turvy phase in his career right now, where he would score a big innings followed by three or more matches being dismissed for paltry scores. It definitely affects whichever team he plays for as it was evident in the latest edition of SA20 where he scored 234 runs from nine innings off which he remained not out on five occasions.
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However, the Paarl Royals captain got out cheaply in key matches, specifically in the qualifier against Sunrisers Eastern Cape where his team needed his finishing abilities. Miller’s contributions in the middle order are extremely vital if LSG are to launch a promising campaign in 2025.
The legspinner is coming off an excellent run in the domestic circuit with Gujarat, having led them to the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 quarterfinals. He began really well in the 2024 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, claiming seven wickets from as many games which doesn’t look like much. But, he had a superb economy of 7.3 which was among the best for those who played more than five matches in the tournament.
He went one better in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with 14 wickets from eight matches at an average of 13.7 as Gujarat reached the quarterfinals. He was then picked up for the T20Is against England where he once again impressed with an economy of 7.7 and five wickets from as many matches. He will be once again shouldering an unfancied spin attack this season and will need to continue his good run in the IPL.
The Madhya Pradesh pacer has hit the ground running in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this season with 10 wickets which played a big part in MP reaching the final of the tournament. He was economical and lethal in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with 11 scalps from six matches at an economy of 4.6. He will be key member of the pace attack for LSG this season having finished as Rajasthan Royals’ highest wicket-taker last season with 19 wickets from 16 wickets at an economy of 9.5.
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