Lucknow Super Giants, along with Gujarat Titans, were the new franchises to join the Indian Premier League in 2022. And boy, did they start strongly! In their maiden season itself, they made the playoffs with nine wins in the group stage. They eventually lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Eliminator.
The next season, too, LSG qualified for the playoffs, despite losing skipper KL Rahul to an injury. But, once again, they were knocked out in the Eliminator, this time by Mumbai Indians.
In 2024, LSG fared poorly, finishing seventh, despite bringing in Justin Langer to replace Andy Flower as the new head coach. Langer has been retained for this season. Former India pacer Zaheer Khan has been appointed the mentor.
Oh Captain… My Captain! 💙 pic.twitter.com/Qkite1n4bh
— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) March 17, 2025
The franchise reshaped their squad for the IPL 2025, letting go their skipper KL Rahul, who was their top run-getter over the years, and breaking the bank to buy wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant in the IPL 2025 auction. They retained Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Ayush Badoni and pacers Mayank Yadav and Mohsin Khan, and brought in experienced foreign players such as Aiden Markram and David Miller.
However, there are injury clouds over pacers Akash Deep, Avesh Khan, Khan and Yadav, which might deplete their bowling department.
IPL 2025: Five LSG players to watch out for this season
Rishabh Pant
LSG went after Pant with a mission at the IPL 2025, buying him for a whopping ₹27 crore, and making him the captain for this season. The wicketkeeper-batter, too, will have a point to prove, having been dropped by his previous franchise, Delhi Capitals (DC). Pant debuted in the IPL in 2016 with DC and had been with them till 2024, scoring 3,284 runs in 111 matches at an average of 35.31 and strike-rate of 148.93.
Nicholas Pooran
Retained for around ₹21 crore and appointed vice-captain, Pooran will have a key role to play for the LSG this season. The West Indian batter was picked by the Lucknow franchise in 2023 for ₹16 crore, and he made instant impact, scoring 358 runs at a strike-rate of 172.94. He did even better in 2024, amassing 499 runs at an even better strike-rate of 178.21.
Aiden Markram
South Africa’s T20 power-house, Markram was with Sunrisers Hyderabad for the past three seasons, scoring 849 runs in 38 matches for them. He was snapped up by the LSG for his base price of ₹2 crore at the auction. His ability to open the batting and his right-arm off spin will come in handy for the LSG, especially since injury-prone all-rounder Mitchell Marsh is unlikely to bowl.
Ravi Bishnoi
The spin department seems like the weakest link in LSG’s line-up this season. In the absence of an experienced spinner, Bishnoi will be their go-to bowler with his leg-breaks and googly. He has been among the wickets since LSG signed him in 2022 for ₹4 crore, picking up 39 scalps in 43 matches. Bishnoi has bowled well in the power play, and even at the death. He was retained by LSG for ₹11 crore.
Shamar Joseph
With Indian pacers Akash Deep, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan and Mayank Yadav having injury concerns, Pant will look to the West Indian quick to hustle up the opponent batters with his fiery pace. LSG signed Joseph for ₹3 crore, though he has played only nine T20Is (10 wickets), and 20 T20s (19 wickets). He announced himself on the world stage in his debut Test series against Australia Down Under in 2023-24, helping the West Indies win their first Test in Australia in nearly 27 years. The series was drawn 1-1, and Joseph was the player of the series with 13 wickets.
