Revamped LSG look to upgrade fortunes under Rishabh Pant

What has Lucknow Super Giants improved since the previous cycle?

For a franchise which has played in the IPL for only three editions so far, Lucknow Super Giants have given a good account of themselves with two playoff appearances in the previous cycle. However, after a disappointing 2024 campaign in which they finished seventh, they parted ways with KL Rahul, leaving LSG to select a new captain. In came Rishabh Pant to don the blue of LSG for a whopping INR 27 crore, becoming the most expensive IPL player in the process. There was also a change in coaching staff as Zaheer Khan came in as the mentor for the side.

LSG selected five retentions prior to the auction, including Nicholas Pooran (INR 21 crore), Indian players Ravi Bishnoi and Mayank Yadav (INR 11 crore each), and their uncapped retentions Mohsin Khan and Ayush Badoni. They managed to bring back Avesh Khan and further strengthened their Indian pace bowling unit with the acquisition of Akash Deep. Despite the promise of pace, the attack is susceptible to injury as LSG are already sweating on the fitness of Mayank, Mohsin and Avesh.

LSG have also revamped their overseas roster of players with the hard-hitting David Miller, Mitchell Marsh and Matthew Breetzke, to add power to their batting department which faded away through the middle last season. They have also roped in South Africa's T20I captain Aiden Markram as previous signings Quinton de Kock and Marcus Stoinis went elsewhere. In a new era under Pant, the Lucknow-based side will have a point to prove that they can have another successful campaign.

Whole Squad: Rishabh Pant (c), Aiden Markram, Aryan Juyal, Himmat Singh, Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Arshin Kulkarni, Ayush Badoni, Avesh Khan, Akash Deep, Manimaran Siddarth Digvesh Singh, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Mohs The best XII as things stand:

Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Shahbaz Ahmed, Abdul Samad, Akash Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Akash Deep, Manimaran Siddarth
Injury/Availability Concerns:

The Super Giants have a heavy reliance on their domestic players to shine this year with the ball in hand. However, the core of their fast-bowling attack are currently in a race against time to be fit for their IPL opener, namely - Mayank, Mohsin and Avesh. Mayank has not played a game since October 2024 since the three T20Is against Bangladesh while Mohsin too has only played three T20s and seven List-A games since last year's IPL.

To compound matters, Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has just recovered from a back injury which ruled him out of the recent Champions Trophy. His fitness and whether he can play all 14 league games while playing the all-rounder role will be closely monitored. The player who needs to win is: Rishabh Pant: Being the most expensive player in the Indian Premier League is not something to be taken lightly. Pant did not feature in the recently-concluded Champions Trophy or in the five-match T20I series against England in January despite being in both the squads. He will have a point to prove to the Indian selectors that he still belongs in the T20 circuit.

A player who could have a breakout season?

Akash Deep: The fast-bowler was purchased for INR 8 crore by LSG following his ascendancy to the Indian team. The fast bowler, who made his IPL debut in 2022 and has only played eight games, may be a mainstay for LSG due to injury concerns for the aforementioned pace trio. Fixture build-up and run-in...
LSG begin their season with two away games - first against Delhi Capitals in Visakhapatnam and then have a short trip to Hyderabad to face the Sunrisers Hyderabad. They are scheduled to play their first home game on April 1 and play five of their allotted seven home games during the month. With the IPL well known to be rigorous when it comes to travel, LSG have a balanced schedule of travel this season. They can only play two games at a time away from home before returning for the same number of games at home.

A home ground stat to watchout for this season
Since it was added to the IPL circuit in 2023, the Ekana stadium has the lowest average first-innings total of all the venues. In this impact sub era where batters take the long-levers from ball one, it will be interesting to see whether the Lucknow tracks will be easier to bat on like the rest of the venues.