Lucknow Super Giants won the crucial toss against Punjab Kings in their first home game of the IPL 2024 at Ekana Cricket Stadium on Saturday. KL Rahul missed the toss as his deputy Nicholas Pooran walked out in a surprise for the fans.
Pooran revealed that KL Rahul is recovering from his previous injury and will play today's game as an impact player. Lucknow also handed IPL debuts to two new players Mayank Yadav and Manimaran Siddharth with Naveen-ul-Haq and Yash Thakur missing out.
"We'll bat first," Pooran said after winning the toss. "Looks like a good track, runs on the board could be vital. KL is coming back from injury and we're looking to give him a break in such a long tournament, but he'll play as an impact player today. Everyone must take the opportunities and perform at their best."
Meanwhile, Punjab Kings made no changes to their playing eleven that failed to defend 176 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their last game. Captain Shikhar Dhawan said that he wanted to bowl first at Ekana Cricket Stadium due to potential dew in the second innings.
"We would have bowled first, lots of dew when we came to the ground (last night)," Shikhar Dhawan said. "Our lines cane be tight, while batting, we can't afford to lose wickets in clusters. It's still early in the tournament and we've spoken about that in the dressing room. We'll have to make the most of the powerplay. No changes for us."
Lucknow Super Giants playing XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), KL Rahul (as an impact player), Devdutt Padikkal, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran (c), Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Manimaran Siddharth.
Subs: Ashton Turner, Naveen-ul-Haq, Amit Mishra, Deepak Hooda, Krishnappa Gowtham.
Punjab Kings playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh.
Subs: Prabhsimran Singh, Rilee Roussouw, Tanay Thagarajan, Vidwath Kaverappa, Harpreet Bhatia.
