LSG Predicted Playing XI vs DC, IPL 2026, Match 5

Lucknow Super Giants - (Source: AFP)

On Wednesday, April 1, Lucknow Super Giants will kickstart their IPL campaign when the Rishabh Pant-led side squares off against Delhi Capitals at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. The two teams played their first games of IPL 2025 against each other, and it was a blockbuster.

The two teams are in search of maiden IPL glory and have undergone massive overhauls for the 2026 season. Talking about the Lucknow Super Giants, they brought in experience to the bowling attack with the inclusion of Mohammed Shami in the team.

Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, also signed David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, and Auqib Nabi to boost all their departments. This article will focus on Lucknow Super Giants and their playing XI for the upcoming clash against Delhi Capitals.

LSG Likely Playing XI vs DC- Match 5

Openers and Top Order (Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant)

Lucknow would not look to fix something that is not broken. The Sanjeev Goenka-owned side will go ahead with Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh as the two openers after a stellar 2025. The duo stitched 574 runs in 12 innings, making them one of the most successful opening pairs of the season.

Talking about individual brilliance, Aiden Markram scored 445 runs in 13 matches. On the other hand, Mitchell Marsh had his best-ever IPL season and amassed 627 runs in 13 innings at an average of 48.23 and a strike rate of 163.70.

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One interesting move that LSG might make this season is to promote Rishabh Pant up the order. The LSG captain had a disappointing season last year, scoring only 269 runs in 14 matches. Therefore, Nicholas Pooran might be demoted to No. 4 to help Pant regain confidence and bat up the order.

Middle Order and All Rounders (Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed)

As mentioned above, Nicholas Pooran is likely to be demoted at No.4. The southpaw started IPL 2025 on a positive note, but lost his path towards the business end of the tournament. Pooran scored 524 runs in the season. Now, it is to be seen whether the demotion will affect his form or not.

Now, LSG have a problem with their lower middle-order. Ayush Badoni will continue to bat at No.5, alongside Abdul Samad, who will come to bat at No.6. The Rishabh Pant-led side will miss Josh Inglis, who is not available for the first half of the season because of his wedding.

Lucknow lack depth in the batting order as they are most likely to play Shahbaz Ahmed at No. 7. Further, the fight is for the No. 8 position. LSG don’t have Wanindu Hasaranga at the moment in the team because of his injury he sustained during the T20 World Cup 2026.

Bowlers - (Prince Yadav, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Digvesh Rathi)

Interestingly, LSG have a problem of plenty in the bowling line-up. They have 11 proper bowlers in their squad, which means that most of them would end up on the bench. Mohammed Shami will start for sure, as he was traded from SRH for a whopping 10 crores before the auction.

Rest, Digvesh Rathi was the star spinner and one of the finds of the tournament in IPL 2025. The right-arm off-spinner picked up 14 wickets in 13 innings. Avesh Khan and Prince Yadav are the rest of the two bowlers likely to get a chance in the playing XI.