IPL 2025: 3 Areas of concern for LSG ahead of the season

After finishing at the third position at the end of the league stage in the first two seasons since their inauguration, Lucknow struggled in their previous season finishing at the seventh position. They managed to win and lose seven games a piece but with a lower net run-rate, they failed to qualify in the previous edition of the tournament. 

They have let go of their captain KL Rahul while retaining their ace batter Nicholas Pooran and have focused on retaining their Indian core with the likes of Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan and Ayush Badoni. They have also bought Rishabh Pant at a record price of 27 crores to further strengthen their Indian core.

Here are the 3 areas of concern for Lucknow Super Giants ahead of IPL 2025

1. Lack of specialist openers

While they have some of the strongest batters and hard hitters of the tournament in the names of Rishabh Pant, Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh and David Miller, they don’t really have any specialist openers in the team whether Indian or foreign. Some of the good names that they have in their batting line-up don’t really open for their nation and would have to become a make-shift opener for the Giants. 

This can also become a good opportunity for the youngsters in the team to make their mark on the team as well as on the tournament but the lack of an experienced opener can become a chink in the strong armour of the Lucknow Giants.

2. Lack of experienced death bowling options

Three out of the five retained players for the Lucknow team have been their bowlers. Even in the auctions, they went heavy on their bowling line-up as they roped in 11 specialist bowlers and five all-rounders with the likes of Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan and Shamar Joseph. Keeping in mind the number of pacers they have acquired in their team, Lucknow has one of the strongest pace-bowling attacks with an equally strong bench strength.

However, even after so many bowling options, they still lack quality and experienced death bowling options in their team. Avesh and Mohsin can bowl in the death overs but they have proven to be quite expensive in the process and Mayank has been struggling with his fitness after impressing with his pace in the last season. 

3. The price tag of Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant wreaked havoc in the auctions for IPL 2025 as he surpassed everyone to become the highest-paid player in the history of IPL. Just when Shreyas Iyer had set a new record for being bought at a whopping Rs 26.75 crores, Pant quickly made the record his own as the Lucknow team roped him in for Rs 27 crores.

While he would be delighted to have such a record to his name, historically, the players with the highest bids have generally not fared well in their successive seasons. 

Mitchell Starc, Ben Stokes and Sam Curran in IPL 2023, Chris Morris and Glenn Maxwell in IPL 2021 and Yuvraj Singh in IPL 2015 are all examples of the players receiving record cash but failing to turn it into results due to the weight of the price tag they carried with themselves. Pant and the team would be hoping that it won’t be a similar case in IPL 2025. 

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Final Squad for IPL 2025:

Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant, David Miller, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Avesh Khan, Abdul Samad, Aryan Juyal, Akash Deep, Himmat Singh, M. Siddharth, Digvesh Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Akash Singh, Shamar Joseph, Prince Yadav, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Arshin Kulkarni, Matthew Breetzke.

In conclusion, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) face several challenges ahead of IPL 2025. Despite retaining key players like Nicholas Pooran and strengthening their Indian core with the acquisition of Rishabh Pant, the team has areas of concern. The lack of specialist openers, experienced death bowling options, and the pressure of Pant's high price tag are significant issues. Historically, players with the highest bids have struggled to perform under the weight of expectations. LSG will need to address these concerns to improve their performance in the upcoming season.

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