Arjun Tendulkar is set to make his debut for the Lucknow Super Giants on Saturday, captain Rishabh Pant said at the toss against the Punjab Kings at the Ekanan Stadium. Ahead of the IPL 2026 mini-auction in December, Arjun was traded by Mumbai Indians for his first stint outside the five-time champions. Lucknow Super Giants acquired the services of Arjun at his base price of INR 30 lakh. “I think we would have bowled first also because the wicket here, this wicket is good for batting irrespective of bowling first or batting first. It definitely is one of the better wickets where we have played this season. I think it’s going to be one of the most high scoring matches. We have two changes. Arjun (Tendulkar) comes in and Arshin (Kulkarni) come in,” Pant said at the toss. Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bowl against LSG. PBKS made two changes, bringing in Marco Jansen and Vyshak Vijaykumar. Ahead of the season, R Ashwin had said that Arjun’s Tendulkar’s hopes of substantial playing time in the IPL 2026 will not come to fruition due to LSG’s stacked pace attack. “Arjun Tendulkar khelega hi nahi (Arjun Tendulkar won’t play at all), and let’s not even go there. I think it is very difficult because there are Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, and Mohammad Shami in this lineup. There are so many fast bowlers. How will he play? I don’t think he makes any case unless and until there are a lot of injuries,” Ashwin had remarked on his YouTube channel. Having made his T20 debut in 2021, Arjun was first signed up in the IPL by the Mumbai Indians the same season. In 29 T20Is, Arjun has snapped up 35 wickets at a strike rate of 16.0 besides aggregating 189 runs with the bat. Arjun has played only five IPL games in all, picking up three wickets. This is a crucial encounter for Punjab Kings with the Iyer-led side looking to stay alive in the IPL playoffs with a win against an already eliminated LSG.
Arjun Tendulkar set to make Lucknow Super Giants debut vs Punjab Kings
