Shortly after the BCCI announced the full schedule of IPL 2025 season, Zaheer Khan, the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), said the side shapes up as a strong contender for winning the title. The Rishabh Pant-led LSG will play its opening match of IPL 2025 against Delhi Capitals, a side the wicketkeeper-batter previously led, in an evening clash on March 24 at ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam. Pant became the most expensive player in IPL's history when LSG acquired him for INR 27 crore at the mega auction in Jeddah last year. LSG reached the playoffs of IPL 2022 and 2023 seasons, before exiting in the Eliminator twice. In IPL 2024, LSG finished at seventh place in the points table.
"Under the captaincy of Rishabh Pant, the team has many excellent players like David Miller, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Ayush Badoni, Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan, and Ravi Bishnoi. LSG is a strong contender for the IPL Cup. We will achieve this goal with the love and support of cricket lovers," said Zaheer in a statement issued by the franchise.
LSG will begin its run of playing seven home games at the Bharat Ratna Shree Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium when it faces Punjab Kings in an evening game on April 1. They will later play their home games against Mumbai Indians (April 4), Gujarat Titans (April 12), Chennai Super Kings (April 14), Delhi Capitals (April 22), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (May 9), and Sunrisers Hyderabad (May 18).
Apart from Zaheer, Justin Langer is the head coach, while Vijay Dahiya and Lance Klusener are assistant coaches. Each team in the IPL will play 14 matches during the league phase, with top four teams to feature in the playoffs.
The Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator will be held on May 20 and 21, respectively, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. It is followed by the Qualifier 2 and the final to be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on May 23 and 25 respectively.
LSG squad for IPL 2025: Rishabh Pant (Captain), Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Matthew Breetzke, Nicholas Pooran, Shamar Joseph, Ayush Badoni, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, Akash Deep, Aryan Juyal, Abdul Samad, Himmat Singh, Arshin Kulkarni, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Akash Singh, Digvesh Singh, M Siddharth, and Prince Yadav.
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