Just In | Faf du Plessis Return as RCB Captain; Hazlewood to Spray Pepper at Lucknow
Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis called it right at toss time and decided to bat first at the Ekana Stadium. Apart from Du Plessis returning as RCB skipper, the team in Red and Gold have gotten a fully-fit Josh Hazlewood, who will play his first game this season. Meanwhile, Lucknow have replaced Avesh Khan with Krishnappa Gowtham, which hints at the condition being spin-friendly.
Apart from Du Plessis and Hazlewood, RCB have also one more change, bringing in the wily leg-spinner Karn Sharma in place of Shahbaz Ahmed. Moreover, they have also brought in the top-order batter Anuj Rawat, sitting Vijaykumar Vyshak out of the starting team.
The veteran leggie, who played a huge part before Wanindu Hasaranga joined the squad, will play his first game since the Lanka tweaker got available. However, playing two leggies on Lucknow's peppery pitch could be a wise call.
If the Royal Challengers have opted for two leggies, then LSG are no less as they also have two equally brilliant wrist-spinner in their array in the form of Ravi Bishnoi and Amit Mishra, alongside Krunal Pandya and K Gowtham.
Starting XIs
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Anuj Rawat, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudessai, Wanindu Hasaranga, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood
Impact Player substitutes
Harshal Patel, Sonu Yadav, Michael Bracewell, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Shahbaz Ahmed
Lucknow Super Giants
Lokesh Rahul (c), Kyle Mayers, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Krishnappa Gowtham, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen ul Haq, Amit Mishra, Yash Ravisingh Thakur
Impact Player substitutes
Ayush Badoni, Daniel Sams, Quinton de Kock, Prerak Mankad, Avesh Khan
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