LSG will begin a new era under skipper Rishabh Pant and will look to win their maiden title in IPL 2025.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) enter the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) marking the start of a new era under Rishabh Pant. The Lucknow franchise had acquired Pant for a whopping amount of INR 27 crore at the mega-auction in November 2024.
The Super Giants made the IPL playoffs in 2022 (their debut season) and 2023. But they fell short in 2024 after finishing in the sixth place. Under the new skipper, LSG will hope to scale new heights and even possibly go all the way. However, that’s easier said than done. Lucknow Super Giants begin their IPL 2025 campaign against Delhi Capitals in Visakhapatnam.
Here are three starting XI decisions LSG will have to make for a successful tournament.
Arguably, the biggest conundrum that Lucknow Super Giants face is that of their opening combination. Aiden Markram is a sure starter and he will be all set to open. But the same cannot be said of Mitchell Marsh. The Aussie all-rounder was ruled out of the Champions Trophy 2025 due to a back injury. He remains doubtful for the upcoming IPL due to the same reason.
This could mean that Rishabh Pant would promote himself as an opener. Just to add some context, while Pant has largely played as a middle-order batter throughout his career, he did open for India in the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. Pant also played as an opener for India in the T20I series against New Zealand in 2022.
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The talk of Lucknow Super Giants openers brings us to the next question of an opener coming in as an impact player. The player in question is a young all-rounder Arshin Kulkarni. The 20-year-old opened against Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2024 but was dismissed for a golden duck. Kulkarni, though, is coming on the back of a decent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy season, having scored 194 runs from six matches (one fifty) for Maharashtra.
He also scored a century against Punjab in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in January and followed it up with a knock of 90 in the next game against Vidarbha.
The right-handed batter could be a worthy impact player candidate, especially at times when LSG require chasing a big total or are under pressure in terms of batting.
Just like the last few seasons, Ravi Bishnoi will lead the Lucknow Super Giants ‘ spin attack. However, what he lacks is an experienced support system. Shahbaz Ahmed is relatively experienced in IPL, although he endured a forgettable 2024 season after going at an economy of over nine and an average of 38.57.
M Siddarth is another spinner in the LSG set-up but is still inexperienced in the IPL, having played just three matches and taken one wicket. There’s also Abdul Samad, but he may not be a definite starter. Having said that, Lucknow Super Giants could go with just two spinners in Bishnoi and Shahbaz, unless the conditions demand otherwise.
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