IPL 2025, LSG vs PBKS preview: Can Pant's Lucknow Super Giants challenge Shreyas's Punjab Kings?
LSG seeks consistency after a shaky start to IPL 2025, while PBKS aims for their second consecutive win, relying on strong batting and bowling.
FollowRishabh Pant’s Lucknow Super Giants will take on Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab Kings in the 13th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, April 1.
Lucknow Super Giants did not have an ideal start to their campaign as they lost their opening match against Delhi Capitals in Visakhapatnam. However, the Rishabh Pant-led side turned the tables around to register their first win of the season with a win over Sunrisers Hyderabad. Pant took a bold decision of bowling first despite the formidable batting line-up of SRH. The LSG bowlers did their job by restricting Sunrisers to 190/9 before Nicholas Pooran (70) and Mitchell Marsh (52) starred in 191–run chase.
Punjab Kings, on the other hand, had a great start to their season with a win over Gujarat Titans. PBKS batters, especially Shreyas Iyer and Shashank Singh took GT bowlers to the cleaners and powered the side to 243/5 in 20 overs. Punjab Kings bowling attack led by Arshdeep Singh restricted Gujarat Titans to 232/5 in 20 overs.
IPL 2025, LSG vs PBKS preview: Can Lucknow give tough fight to Punjab?
Lucknow Super Giants will look to take inspiration from their first win of the season against Sunrisers Hyderabad to build winning momentum and strengthen their position on the points table. The LSG batting line-up has been quite formidable, with Nicholas Pooran and Mitchell Marsh in fine form. Rishabh Pant’s form has been a concern for the LSG as he failed to deliver his best in the first two matches of the IPL 2025.
Lucknow Super Giants will be hoping for their skipper to step up and provide much-needed stability in the middle-order, alongside David Miller, Ayush Badoni, and Abdul Samad. One of the biggest positives from the first matches was Shardul Thakur’s bowling brilliance. Thakur came in as rescue for an injury-hit bowling line-up and picked six wickets in two matches. It has to be noted that, the seam-bowling all-rounder went unsold at the IPL 2025 Auction.
With a win and a defeat, Lucknow Super Giants will aim to find consistency and strengthen their campaign with a strong performance against Punjab Kings.
IPL 2025, LSG vs PBKS preview: Punjab Kings eye 2nd consecutive win
Though Lucknow Super Giants will look to build winning momentum, Punjab Kings will leave no stone unturned in their quest for second consecutive win, relying on their in-form batting line-up and well-rounded bowling attack to maintain their strong start to the IPL 2025.
Shreyas Iyer was brilliant with the bat, scoring 97 off 42 balls and Shashank Singh unleashing his firepower in the death overs while playing an innings 44 off 16 balls. However, Punjab Kings will expect Prabhsimran Singh, Glenn Maxwell, and Glenn Maxwell when they are needed the most in posting a strong total or chasing challenging targets. Arshdeep Singh was quite good with the ball, taking two wickets in the match against Gujarat Titans. But Yuzvendra Chahal, Marco Jansen, and Marcus Stoinis going wicketless remain a concern as they need key bowlers to step up against LSG’s strong batting line-up.
With Punjab Kings having played one match in the ongoing IPL 2025, the Shreyas Iyer-led side is sitting at the fifth spot on the points table with two points. They will look to earn a second win of the season on the trot to move up on the points table.
Also read: IPL 2025: Why MS Dhoni bats lower in the order? CSK coach Stephen Fleming REVEALS
IPL 2025, LSG vs PBKS preview: Squads
Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant (C & WK), David Miller, Aiden Markram, Aryan Juyal, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Arshin Kulkarni, Ayush Badoni, Avesh Khan, Akash Deep, M Siddharth, Digvesh Singh, Akash Singh, Shamar Joseph, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi
Punjab Kings: Nehal Wadhera, Harnoor Singh, Shreyas Iyer (C), Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash, Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Vishnu Vinod, Josh Inglis, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Praveen Dubey, Priyansh Arya, Azmatullah Omarzai, Aaron Hardie, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Xavier Bartlett, Kuldeep Sen, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur
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