Lucknow Super Giants will begin their IPL 2026 campaign against Delhi Capitals at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Wednesday. Both of these teams had failed to qualify for the previous season’s playoffs despite a good start in the first phase of the tournament.
LSG has a solid batting unit and their captain Rishabh Pant must deliver the goods after a mundane run in the last edition. However, the finishing role could be a worry and the likes of Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, and Shahbaz Ahmed will need to take the onus on their shoulders.
Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh were in prime form in the previous season whereas Nicholas Pooran was at his best in the first half of the competition. But, Pooran isn’t in the best of forms currently and he would look to turn the tables. LSG’s bowling could also be a worry and the likes of Anrich Nortje, Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav, and Mohsin Khan will need to be at their best.
On the other hand, Delhi Capitals will miss the services of Mitchell Starc at both ends of the innings. KL Rahul must open for the franchise, which was not the case in the last season. It will be interesting to note Rahul’s opening partner between Abishek Porel and Prithvi Shaw but DC have a potent middle order as they have Tristan Stubbs and David Miller.
DC can also bank upon the eight overs of skipper Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav in the middle phase.
Head to Head: Matches: 7, Won by DC: 4, Won by LSG: 3.
Lucknow Super Giants Squad: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, Shahbaz Ahmed, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Avesh Khan, Anrich Nortje, Prince Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Mohammed Shami, Matthew Breetzke, Josh Inglis, Himmat Singh, Mukul Choudhary, Arshin Kulkarni, Naman Tiwari, Arjun Sachin Tendulkar, Manimaran Siddharth, Mayank Prabhu Yadav, Akash Maharaj Singh
Delhi Capitals Squad: KL Rahul(w), Prithvi Shaw, Abishek Porel, Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, David Miller, Vipraj Nigam, Dushmantha Chameera, Kyle Jamieson, T Natarajan, Lungi Ngidi, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Rana, Karun Nair, Pathum Nissanka, Sahil Parakh, Sameer Rizvi, Madhav Tiwari, Auqib Nabi Dar, Tripurana Vijay, Ajay Jadav Mandal
