The Lucknow franchise will be captained by KL Rahul, the former Punjab Kings skipper.
The team has some experienced Indian players like Krunal Pandya and Manish Pandey while the overseas stars comprise Marcus Stoinis, Quinton de Kock and Jason Holder among others. Let’s look at the full squad and predict the playing XI of LSG.
Full squad - KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, K Gowtham, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Andrew Tye, Dushmantha Chameera, Ankit Rajpoot, Shahbaz Nadeem, Manan Vohra, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Karan Sharma, Mayank Yadav, Kyle Mayers, K Gowtham, Evin Lewis.
Predicted XI
Openers: KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock
The Lucknow Super Giants have a solid opening pair in KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock. Both the batsmen are currently among the world’s best white-ball players and highly experienced. While KL has previously been the skipper of Punjab Kings, de Kock has led South Africa in international cricket.
KL Rahul, in particular, was Punjab Kings’ best batsman the last few seasons. He has been scoring runs in excess of 500 each season since 2018. De Kock, on the other hand, is a fearless striker of the ball who can wreak havoc in the powerplay overs. KL Rahul and de Kock are perhaps the most destructive opening pair for any team this IPL.
Middle-Order: Manish Pandey and Deepak Hooda
Manish Pandey is likely to bat at the number three position and will be expected to play the role of an anchor in the middle order. The India international has been among runs the last few IPL seasons, but his strike rate has been unimpressive. The big-hitting is one area he will have to work on.
Deepak Hooda, on the other hand, will be high on confidence after recently making his international debut. He has been one of the best performers for Gujarat in domestic cricket over the last few years.
All-rounders: Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Krishnappa Gowtham
The Lucknow Super Giants are spoilt for choice when it comes to all-rounders. Apart from Hooda, the other quality all-rounders that they have are Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya and Krishnappa Gowtham. Stoinis and Holder, especially, can frequently send the ball out of the park. Both can finish off games with a good strike rate. But it remains to be seen if Holder gets a chance in the playing XI if Dushmantha Chameera is picked as a specialist bowler.
Talking about the older Pandya brother, he brings with him quite a lot of experience from his career with the Mumbai Indians. Along with Pandya, K Gowtham will be the other spin bowling all-rounder.
Bowlers: Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Dushmantha Chameera and Ankit Rajpoot
In the bowling department, the four frontline bowlers Lucknow will likely field are Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Dushmantha Chameera and Ankit Rajpoot. Bishnoi, who rose through the ranks from the U19 World Cup 2020, will share the spin bowling duties with Pandya and Gowtham. Avesh Khan, meanwhile, was the standout bowler for the Delhi Capitals last season and is likely to spearhead the pace attack which will also comprise Chameera and Rajput.
Image credit: BCCI/IPL
