No Markram Or Breetzke; 9 Debutants? LSG’s Probable Playing XI Vs DC

Rishabh Pant will become LSG's fourth captain. [Source: @LucknowIPL/X]

When Lucknow Super Giants take on Delhi Capitals during their Indian Premier League 2025 opener on Monday, only three players from their last Playing XI will take the field in Visakhapatnam. That the franchise is starting afresh post a mega auction and a spate of injuries would be an understatement.

In addition to a new captain in Rishabh Pant, they will also have a new opening pair, perhaps entirely new, and a novel and vastly inexperienced pace-bowling combination. In what is surely not an ideal start on paper, uncapped Indian players usually don’t get opportunities this easily. Some of them could be:

Who Will Partner Mitchell Marsh At The Top?

Passed fit to partake as a specialist batter, this would be all-rounder Mitchell Marsh’s umpteenth attempt to resuscitate his IPL career. With LSG set to be his sixth franchise across eight seasons and 16 years, Marsh’s experience means the most to this team at this stage.

While Marsh is a sure-starter, his opening partner needs a decision on the part of the team management. One out of Arshin Kulkarni, who played a couple of matches for the franchise last year, or Aryan Juyal would be shortlisted to partner Marsh at the top of the order.

Both 20 and 23 respectively, their T20 numbers are identical. So are their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024/25 numbers. Juyal, however, could be the frontrunner primarily because of playing close to 100 representative matches across formats in over half-a-decade.

[Kulkarni and Juyal's T20 stats]

Nicholas Pooran, highest T20 run-scorer in the last two years, is a sure-starter. Highest run-scorer at No. 3 in this period, the left-handed batter shouldn’t be made to bat anywhere below No. 3 irrespective of the situation, opposition or condition.

A Solid Middle-Order Is LSG’s Biggest Strength

What Pooran could do for LSG at No. 3, one expects Pant to replicate it at No. 4. Unlike IPL 2024, ideally, he shouldn’t bat below No. 4 as many as seven times. Starting with Pant, Lucknow have capable game-changing batters Ayush Badoni, David Miller and Abdul Samad in their middle-order.

For anyone who followed him since the last IPL season, Badoni has come of age as a batter and a captain for South Delhi Superstarz and Delhi. Miller, on the other hand, has the second-highest average among the best middle-order batters in IPL history. Samad, meanwhile, could be their Impact Player if they bowl first.

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Pace Bowling: A Major Cause Of Concern

One of the two franchises to have just six overseas players, Super Giants’ solitary overseas pace-bowling option is Shamar Joseph. Fortunately for them, he remains fit to play. Unfortunately for them, as many as four first-choice Indian pacers such as Akash Deep, Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan and Mohsin Khan remain unfit.

With Shardul Thakur joining the franchise as a last-minute replacement for Mohsin, he is certain to be the second pacer behind Joseph. The spot for the third pacer will be tightly contested between Prince Yadav, Akash Singh and Rajvardhan Hangargekar. As is the case with the second opener, nothing much differentiates between these names. Hence, whosesoever managed to impress the team management the most during training, will get to be among the multiple debutants for the franchise on March 24.

[Prince, Akash and Hangargekar's T20 stats]

As far as the spin-bowling options are concerned, all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed and spinner Ravi Bishnoi, one of their retained players, will have to do the heavy-lifting considering the inexperience of the fast bowlers.

LSG’s Probable Playing XI For IPL 2025

1) Aryan Juyal 2) Mitchell Marsh 3) Nicholas Pooran 4) Rishabh Pant (c & wk) 5) Ayush Badoni 6) David Miller 7) Abdul Samad 8) Shahbaz Ahmed 9) Shardul Thakur 10) Ravi Bishnoi 11) Shamar Joseph 12) Prince Yadav

Impact Player: As mentioned above, if not Samad, Lucknow could also swap Juyal or one out of Joseph or Yadav to make the most of the Impact Player rule.

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