KOLKATA, APRIL 1, 20206: The Delhi Capitals face off against the Lucknow Super Giants to start their campaigns for this season of the Indian Premier League 2026. This is the fifth match of the tournament, held at Lucknow’s home ground on Wednesday, April 1, at the Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.
LSG ended their last season at 7th position on the table. Rishabh Pant came to Lucknow as skipper for the highest price in the 2025 auction after competing as a leader for Delhi for the past few years. Pant did not have his usual season last year, with an average performance of 269 runs in 14 matches. After a disappointing season, he enters this season with a similar squad and a few changes, looking to deliver a stronger performance. They have a strong batting lineup including Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, and Pant, along with a powerful pace attack comprising Mohammed Shami, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan, and Mayank Yadav. Fans are eagerly excited to see how he leads and performs, and how the team progresses this season.
KL Rahul came to Delhi from Lucknow last season, after leading LSG from the pioneering stage of the team. Last season, he played in an impressive manner for Delhi scoring 539 runs. It will be interesting to see how Rishabh Pant and KL start their seasons against their former teams. Delhi appear well-prepared this season with a similar squad and subtle changes, featuring a powerful batting lineup, a strong middle order, and quality spin options like Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav. However, they look slightly unsettled in the absence of Mitchell Starc, who will not start the season due to a shoulder and elbow injury, though he is expected to join the squad as soon as possible. Both teams have played 7 matches, where DC have won 4 and LSG have won 3.
Squad of LSG: Rishabh Pant, Aiden Markram, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Mukul Choudhary, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arshin Kulkarni, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ayush Badoni, Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan, M. Siddharth, Digvesh Singh, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, Arjun Tendulkar, Anrich Nortje, Naman Tiwari, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan
Predicted Playing XI for LSG: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant , Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Shami, Mayank Yadav, Digvesh Rathi
Squad of DC: KL Rahul, Karun Nair, David Miller, Pathum Nissanka, Sahil Parakh, Prithvi Shaw, Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Ajay Mandal, Tripurana Vijay, Madhav Tiwari, Nitish Rana, Mitchell Starc, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera, Auqib Nabi, Lungisani Ngidi, Kyle Jamieson, Kuldeep Yadav
Predicted Playing XI for DC: KL Rahul, Pathum Nissanka, Nitish Rana, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, David Miller, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Auqib Nabi, Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav.
The weather in Lucknow is expected to be cloudy with sunshine during the day, with temperatures peaking around 36°C. Conditions will remain partly cloudy at night, with temperatures dropping to around 23°C. It is set to be a hot evening during match time, with no rain expected. The pitch is expected to be balanced but slightly bowler-friendly, assisting spinners and slower bowlers, while still being decent for batting. The match will be exciting as both teams look to make a strong comeback and start their campaign on a positive note this season
