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The Indian Premier League extravaganza is just around the corner as the tournament will begin on Saturday, March 22. Lucknow Super Giants compiled a strong squad by retaining key players like Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan and Ayush Badoni and got various quality players like Rishabh Pant, David Miller, Aiden Markram, and Mitchell Marsh, among others.
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In IPL 2024, LSG suffered their worst season so far by finishing seventh on the points table, despite having a strong squad available to them. They made a few corrections in the team and went all out for Rishabh Pant by picking him for a record sum of Rs 27 crore and naming him captain for this edition. Lucknow already had a solid Indian bowling line-up which enabled them to go for specialist foreign batters like David Miller, Mitchell Marsh, and Aiden Markram, all of whom have vast experience at the international level in various formats of cricket.
Weaknesses of LSG for IPL 2025:
1. Lack of dependable options in the middle order
LSG have bolstered their squad with explosive batters which is the need of the hour in T20 cricket. But there seems to be a lack of middle-order dependable options especially if their first-choice backfires.
LSG will likely open with Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram, with Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran to follow. However, their remaining middle order is dependent on David Miller. If he is not up to the mark, LSG will struggle. Still, teams would require a batter who can hold one end up, and other batters can play around him.
2. Fitness issues
Some of the players in the Lucknow team are injury-prone with Indian stars Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, and Avesh Khan having had issues. Mayank has resumed bowling, however, there is no certainty if he will be able to play the entire season.
LSG are also fretting over the fitness of Mohsin and Avesh. To worsen things, Mitchell Marsh has recently recovered from a back issue, which saw him out from the Australian squad for Champions Trophy 2025.
3. Lack of spin bowling options
LSG have Ravi Bishnoi, who will lead their spin bowling department but they lack support bowlers. Pitches at Lucknow are slow and sluggish and the spinners can be key here.
Shahbaz Ahmed is the second spin option in line after Bishnoi but he did not have a good IPL 2024 and had been quite expensive with the bowl. M Siddarth is the third spinner in the team but has very little experience in the IPL.
Only time will tell whether LSG can turn things around and perform better this edition or they will miss some players by not retaining them or not buying at auction.
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