Confident Punjab Kings are all set to lock horns against Lucknow SuperGiants at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow in Indian Premier League 2025 on Tuesday. In-form Shreyas Iyer’s side opened their IPL 2025 campaign with a thrilling 11-run win over Gujarat Titans at their home in Ahmedabad; on the other hand, Rishabh Pant’s LSG defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad comfortably before losing to Delhi Capitals by just one wicket.
LSG would be confident in the clash against PBKS as they are playing at their homeground for the first time in IPL season 18. For this reason, LSG will look forward to continuing their winning streak, whereas PBKS will look to make it in the top spot of the points table.
As far as the squad is concerned, Punjab is comfortable making changes, having a full-strength bench available for selection. However, Lucknow is facing troubles with their bowling attack as its prime bowlers, including Akash Deep and Mayank Yadav, are still not fully fit and will be unavailable for the game against Punjab.
Another concern for Lucknow is their home soil, as per data LSG got a fifty-fifty win percentage at their home. Their in-form batter, Nicholas Pooran, having three seasons with the franchise, does not enjoy playing at Ekana Cricket Stadium, with an average of less than 25 and managing a high score of 42 in 14 matches.
Whereas ex-LSG all-rounder Marcus Stoinis will turn out against his old team, hoping to quickly regain his lost form for his new franchise PBKS, who spent INR 11 crore for him at the auction.
With PBKS’ batting lineup packed with right-handers, LSG might be inclined to include a left-arm spinner like Shahbaz Ahmed or M Siddharth in place of Abdul Samad. They could also contemplate replacing Aiden Markram to give fellow South African Matthew Breetzke a shot at the top of the order. However, Breetzke’s recent form has been inconsistent, as he hasn’t scored a half-century in his last ten T20 innings.
Pitch Report:
The surface at Ekana Stadium has traditionally favored spinners, offering a slow track where the ball doesn’t come onto the bat easily. Slower bowlers can extract grip and turn, and a similar wicket is expected for this game.
The ground features relatively long boundaries by Indian standards, which spinners can exploit by tossing the ball up more often. Pacers with effective variations can also make an impact, as denying pace to the batters will be crucial. For batters, rotating the strike in the middle overs and capitalizing on Powerplay conditions will be key to posting a competitive total.
Lucknow Super Giants
Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (C & WK), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, and Prince Yadav.
Impact substitutes: Abdul Samad/Manimaran Siddharth
Punjab Kings
Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (C), Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Suryansh Shedge, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Impact substitutes: Nehal Wadhera/Harpreet Brar
Comments