Lucknow, March 31 (IANS) Rishabh Pant-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will start their campaign in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 against Axar Patel’s side, Delhi Capitals (DC), at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

Both Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals endured underwhelming campaigns in IPL 2025, missing out on playoff qualification. Delhi narrowly fell short, finishing fifth and just one point away from the top four, while Lucknow ended seventh after managing six wins in their 14 league matches.

LSG boast a formidable top order featuring Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran and Mitchell Marsh, complemented by a strong pace attack comprising Mohammed Shami, Anrich Nortje, Mayank Yadav and Avesh Khan, all capable of maintaining high speeds consistently.

In contrast, Delhi Capitals appear more settled overall, with a solid top order led by KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw and Pathum Nissanka. Their middle order includes experienced names like David Miller, Tristan Stubbs and Nitish Rana. However, their pace unit looks slightly vulnerable in the absence of Mitchell Starc, although Lungi Ngidi and Kyle Jamieson remain reliable options in this format.

When: Wednesday, April 1, 7:30 PM IST

Where: Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow

Where to watch: The LSG vs DC match will be broadcast on Star Sports channels, with JioHotstar live-streaming the game.

Squads:

Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant (C & WK), Nicholas Pooran (WK), Josh Inglis (WK), Aiden Markram, Matthew Breetzke, Himmat Singh, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan, Mayank Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Mohsin Khan, Manimaran Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, Arjun Tendulkar, Naman Tiwari,Mitchell Marsh, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed and Arshin Kulkarni

Delhi Capitals: Axar Patel (C), KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Rana, Abishek Porel (WK), Ajay Mandal, Ashutosh Sharma, Dushmantha Chameera, Karun Nair, Kuldeep Yadav, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc, Sameer Rizvi, T Natarajan, Tripurana Vijay, Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mukesh Kumar, David Miller, Ben Duckett, Auqib Nabi, Pathum Nissanka, Lungi Ngidi, Sahil Parikh, Prithvi Shaw and Kyle Jamieson.

–IANS

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