The stage is set at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium as the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) prepare to host the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 32nd match of the IPL 2026 season this Wednesday. With the tournament reaching a critical juncture, every tactical move carries immense weight. As the sun sets over Lucknow, the atmosphere is electric, but a major talking point emerged even before the first ball was bowled: the absence of speedster Avesh Khan from the LSG starting lineup.
Why Avesh Khan is not playing against Rajasthan Royals in today’s game?
The exclusion of Avesh from today’s high-stakes encounter against his former franchise, Rajasthan Royals, came as a surprise to many fans. However, captain Rishabh Pant clarified the decision during the toss, framing it as a strategic subtle change rather than a total overhaul. Despite LSG facing a tough run after losing three consecutive matches, the management has opted for stability over panic, making only two bowling rotations to suit the specific demands of the Lucknow surface.
Pant confirmed that the decision to bench Avesh was primarily to facilitate the return of the searingly fast Mayank Yadav. The decision appears to be a blend of workload management and tactical matchups. Avesh has been a consistent performer, but on a Lucknow pitch that has proved challenging in recent games, the LSG think-tank opted for the raw, hit-the-deck pace of Mayank to rattle the RR top order.
Furthermore, Pant emphasized the need for stability, noting that while they are still figuring out the best combination for their home soil, they didn’t want massive changes. By replacing Avesh with Mayank and bringing in Digvesh Singh Rathi for Manimaran Siddharth, LSG is looking to inject fresh energy into a bowling unit that has struggled to defend totals in the previous week.
Playing XI and impact substitutes of both the teams
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant (w/c), Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram, Mukul Choudhary, Mohammed Shami, Mohsin Khan, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Mayank Yadav.
Impact Subs: Himmat Singh, George Linde, Manimaran Siddharth, Matthew Breetzke, Abdul Samad.
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (w), Riyan Parag (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Ravi Bishnoi, Brijesh Sharma, Nandre Burger.
Impact Subs: Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Yash Raj Punja, Shubham Dubey, Tushar Deshpande.
