Express pacer missed the first six matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 for Lucknow Super Giants, which made fans wonder if he is featuring in Match 32 of the tournament, where the Rishabh Pant-led side is hosting Rajasthan Royals at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Wednesday, April 22.
LSG vs RR: Toss Update
The toss went in favour of the hosts, Lucknow, and Pant confirmed their choice to be chasing the target at the venue since it is a wicket that they are trying to get used to the conditions with. On the other, RR skipper Riyan Parag was clueless ahead of the toss and found himself lucky to have lost the toss. Parag shared that RR made no changes to their lineup.
LSG vs RR: Mayank Yadav in?
As a matter of fact, Mayank Yadav is fully fit, and as a result, LSG has handed him his maiden outing of the season, as the pacer will be up against the challenge posed by RR’s attacking opening duo that consists of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Mayank came in to replace Avesh Khan in the squad, whereas Digvesh Singh Rathi also made a return in place of Manimaran Siddharth.
LSG vs RR: What did the captains say?
Rishabh Pant, LSG captain,
We’re looking to bowl first, you know. We have been playing in this condition. Still figuring what’s best but, the way our team is, we want to put our opposition under pressure when they bat first. (On the conditions in Lucknow) When you look at last few matches, it’s been challenging, but at the same time, as a team, we love that challenge. We’re going to figure out a way, how we play on our home soil and not looking as a disadvantage. As a player, you’re going to find the way.
(Rejig after losing three matches?) I think mostly a little bit changes, just a subtle change because you don’t want massive change because you want to still keep the stability in the team. Just two changes from bowling side, Rathi comes in for us in place of Sid and Mayank comes in for Avesh. (On Pooran) It’s a bit challenging, but at the same time, a player who has shown so much potential in the top stage, you want to trust him regardless of whatever he’s doing. When you talk about him, he’s really important for our team. And that was the love and care is all about towards Nicholas Pooran.
Riyan Parag, RR captain,
I actually told my boys I was going to try and lose the toss because I was very confused. And I did that pretty well. So I’m happy with either bowling or batting. I feel batting first, we played a few domestic games here and it slowed down a little on the later half. So hopefully we get a start back. I think we batted pretty well. Even last game against Kolkata, I think we made a few miscalculations in the middle overs. But I feel the way Jaiswal and Vaibhav batted with the wickets that they had, I think that was brilliant. Like I said, a few errors here and there. The message is that we need to play 40 overs of good cricket. Only then can we expect a win. Hopefully do that tonight. Same team.
LSG vs RR: Playing XIs
Lucknow Super Giants
Mitchell Marsh, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant (C & WK), Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram, Mukul Choudhary, Mohammed Shami, Mohsin Khan, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Mayank Yadav
Rajasthan Royals
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Riyan Parag (C), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Ravi Bishnoi, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma
