LSG finished seventh on the IPL 2025 points table.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have roped in another former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) member, Carl Crowe, as their spin bowling coach for IPL 2026. The LSG announced Crowe’s appointment on his 50th birthday. He has also been named as the spin-bowling coach of LSG’s sister franchise – Durban Super Giants in SA20.
The timing couldn’t be better, with the auction just weeks away, giving the franchise a chance to align its player strategy for the IPL 2026 auction.
With Ex-KKR pace bowling coach Bharat Arun (bowling coach) and now Carl Crowe (spin coach), LSG have effectively imported the core of support staff. His knowledge of spin variations, tactical bowling in the middle overs, and understanding of different pitch conditions will be crucial for LSG, considering the franchise can play on both red-soil and black-soil pitches at their home venue in Lucknow.
Crowe boasts extensive experience working with top T20 teams and players. Crowe was previously associated with KKR as a spin consultant and played an instrumental role in developing spinners like Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine, and joined LSG ahead of the IPL mini auction.
The Englishman, a former Leicestershire all-rounder, has built an impressive post-playing career as a T20 spin consultant. His work with KKK spinners is widely recognised. He worked with KKR during the IPL 2024 season, where they lifted the title under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer. He has also guided teams across various franchise T20 leagues, including the Big Bash League (BBL), T20 Blast, Caribbean Premier League (CPL), and Global T20 Canada.
The 50-year-old never made his England debut. However, Carl played 50 First Class matches, 40 List A and one T20 game. He amassed 695 in First Class, 187 in List A and nine runs in the T20s.
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The team led by Rishabh Pant has already retained a strong core of players, but also released their premium spinner, Ravi Bishnoi, following a poor IPL 2025 season. The move signals LSG’s focus on bolstering their spin bowling unit, which has been an area of concern in past seasons. In IPL 2025, their spin attack featuring Bishnoi, Digvesh Rathi, and Manimaran Siddharth claimed 32 wickets but leaked runs at 9.53 runs per over, second-highest economy after Sunrisers Hyderabad (10).
As the IPL 2026 approaches. LSG still have six slots to fill, including four overseas players, with a healthy budget (₹22.95) available. The presence of a dedicated spin bowling coach is expected to influence their auction strategy, with an approach toward selecting at least one wicket-taking spinner.
LSG Retained Players 2026:
Rishabh Pant (C), Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, Aiden Markram, Matthew Breetzke, Himmat Singh, Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arshin Kulkarni, Arjun Tendulkar (Trade in), Mohammed Shami (Trade in), Mayank Yadav,
LSG Released Players 2026
Shardul Thakur (trade out), Aryan Juyal, David Miller, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Akash Deep, Ravi Bishnoi
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