Under grey skies in Hyderabad, Lucknow Super Giants skipper Rishabh Pant won the toss and, without too much fuss, decided to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad. “It looks like a good wicket for sure but at the same time, there is something for the bowlers as well,” he said. “After the powerplay it will be harder to score.” His words weren’t crystal-clear, yet the thinking seemed simple enough: early assistance, then rein the chase in later. Asked whether he would open again, Pant just smiled: “We’ll see.” The team sheet later placed him at No.3.
Both sides shuffled the pack. LSG drafted in leg-spinner Digvesh Rathi, left-arm spinner M Siddharth and seamer Avesh Khan, resting Shahbaz Ahmed, Anrich Nortje and Mohsin Khan. Expect Ayush Badoni to appear as the Impact Player once the chase begins; he has filled that role regularly.
SRH made two significant switches. Power-hitter Liam Livingstone and death-overs specialist Harshal Patel replaced Salil Arora and one of the overseas quicks. Only one of Eshan Malinga or David Payne can feature later via the Impact option, giving Hyderabad a late choice between raw pace and left-arm variety.
The match sits on pitch No.2, traditionally the more batting-friendly strip at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium. In the last daytime IPL fixture here, Sunrisers piled up 286 before Rajasthan replied with 242. Short square boundaries – 63 and 68 metres – encourage miss-hits to carry, while the straight fence is a more orthodox 75 m. Still, the overheads may nip a little early on; Pant clearly thinks so.
Ambati Rayudu, watching from the TV studio, believes Pant’s own form could yet shape India’s plans. “Rishabh Pant can make a T20I comeback as well,” he said, pointing to the keeper-batter’s fitness progress since that dreadful accident. Aaron Finch, on the same panel, noted the contrast with Ishan Kishan, who leads SRH today: Kishan has starts on the board but still seeks a defining innings.
LSG are hunting their first points after slipping to Delhi in their opener, whereas SRH arrive with a spring in the step, having edged Kolkata after an earlier defeat in Bengaluru. Early days, yet a win here keeps either side comfortably in touch with the early frontrunners.
Playing XIs
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (capt, wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Liam Livingstone, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat.
Impact options: Eshan Malinga, David Payne, Salil Arora, Shivam Mavi, Zeeshan Ansari.
Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Avesh Khan, Mohammad Shami, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi, M Siddharth.
Impact options: Anrich Nortje, Himmant Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ayush Badoni, Matthew Breetzke.
A cloudy afternoon, a lively new-ball spell in prospect and several fresh faces to watch; nothing sensational, just good old-fashioned IPL intrigue.
