KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant, the two enormously gifted cricketers, earmarked as future India captains will be showcasing their tactical acumen when newcomers Lucknow Super Giants square off with Delhi Capitals in an IPL 2022 match on Thursday (April 7). Rahul and Pant, both match-winners in their own rights even with the bat, will like to seize the initiative in these early rounds.
IPL is a great platform where a good exhibition of meticulous homework, informed decision making with a dash of punt at critical junctures will hold any leader in good stead. India will be playing a lot of cricket in next few years and with national captain Rohit Sharma's workload management is paramount, Rahul and Pant will both like to make a strong case for themselves going into the future.
And hence, the availability of the dashing David Warner for Capitals and the dependable Marcus Stoinis for LSG will certainly add to the depth of the playing XIs and bolster the competitive edge. It is expected that Tim Seifert will make way for Warner in the Capitals line-up while all-rounder Stoinis, who was picked by Lucknow from the draft might replace one among Andrew Tye or Evin Lewis. As of now, replacing Tye looks more imminent.
Both teams have had issues with their bowling but Lucknow under Gautam Gambhir's mentorship, has managed pretty well. The addition of Jason Holder has made them stronger and Delhi will be hoping that Warner gives them a rollicking start alongside mercurial Prithvi Shaw.
In case of LSG, skipper Rahul two good knocks against CSK and Sunrisers Hyderabad would like that Quinton de Kock also repeats his performance against CSK. However it is LSG’s bowling that needs to stop DC’s batting firepower which will grow manifold in Warner’s presence and skipper Pant and Shaw also waiting for their big knocks.
While Lalit Yadav is growing in confidence with each passing game, it is veteran batter Mandeep Singh, who is the weakest link in the batting line-up. The way Mandeep backed towards leg-stump to deliveries from Lockie Ferguson and even Hardik Pandya, didn't make a pleasant sight.
However with LSG’s attack not having an express quick in absence of Mark Wood, Pant and coach Ricky Ponting might be tempted to give the former Punjab captain one more chance.
Match Details
Lucknow Super Giants vs Delhi Capitals, Match No. 15
Venue: DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai
Date & Time: April 7th at 7:30 PM IST
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network, Star Gold and Disney+Hotstar
LSG vs DC Dream 11 Prediction
Wicketkeeper: KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant
Batters: David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Ayush Badoni
All-rounders: Jason Holder, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya
Bowlers: Andrew Tye, Mustafizur Rahman, Anrich Nortje
Captain: David Warner
Vice-Captain: Jason Holder
LSG vs DC Probable Playing XI
Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock (wk), KL Rahul (c), Manish Pandey, Evin Lewis, Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya, Avesh Khan, Andrew Tye, Ravi Bishnoi
Delhi Capitals: David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), KS Bharat/ Mandeep Singh, Lalit Yadav, Rovman Powell, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Anrich Nortje, Kuldeep Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman
