LUCKNOW: It has been fascinating to watch Rishabh Pant working hard in the nets in the leadup to every game. The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain, the most expensive Indian Premier League (IPL) player, is desperate to recover some semblance of batting form and has intensified his nets sessions.
Pant has faced only 32 deliveries across four innings and managed 19 runs, but the fact that LSG have won three out of five games and are currently at No. 5 in the points table have helped hide his personal shortcomings.
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LSG, who face the Shubman Gill-led Gujarat Titans on Saturday, are coming off consecutive wins against Mumbai Indians (MI) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). But they will be keen to improve their record against the Titans, who have won four out of five meetings against them since both the teams joined the league in 2022.
Table-toppers Titans are formidable opponents, having won four out of five matches this season.
LSG played their first home match against Punjab Kings on a red-soil pitch and lost. They then played on a black-soil surface against MI and made their highest score of 203/8, the first time in three seasons that LSG had crossed the 200-run mark at home. For this contest too, the black-soil pitch will be used. In general, though, the Ekana Stadium is famous for its spin-friendly surfaces.
Titans will be wary of Nicholas Pooran and Mitchell Marsh, who’ve played explosive cricket for LSG. Pooran blazed a 36-ball 87 not out against KKR and has 288 runs from five innings, including three half-centuries.
Likely Playing XIs
GT: Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Washington Sundar, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna (Impact Player: Kulwant Khejroliya)
LSG: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (c/wk), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Akash Deep, Digvesh Rathi (Impact Player: Ravi Bishnoi)
Get the latest IPL 2025 updates on Times of India, including match schedules, team squads, points table and IPL live score for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Don’t miss the list of players in the race for IPL Orange Cap and IPL Purple cap.
