Lucknow, March 31 – The Rishabh Pant-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will begin their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 campaign against Axar Patel's Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Both Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals had underwhelming campaigns in IPL 2025, failing to qualify for the playoffs. Delhi narrowly missed out, finishing fifth and just one point behind the top four, while Lucknow ended seventh after securing six wins in their 14 league matches.
LSG boasts a strong top order featuring Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, and Mitchell Marsh, complemented by a powerful 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 players like David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, and Nitish Rana. However, their pace unit appears 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 providing live streaming.
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.