Spotlight on Rahul's batting position as LSG start afresh under Langer

After finishing third on the points table with eight wins from 14 games, LSG's batting ran out of steam in the Eliminator to get walloped by Mumbai Indians.

KL Rahul (capt, wk), Quinton de Kock (wk), Kyle Mayers, Devdutt Padikkal, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, Ashton Turner, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Marcus Stoinis, Prerak Mankad, Arshin Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan, Shamar Joseph, Yash Thakur, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mayank Yadav, Yudhvir Singh, Shivam Mavi, Arshad Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Amit Mishra, M Siddharth, David Willey

Captain KL Rahul had missed the second half of the 2023 IPL with a hamstring injury. Nearly 12 months later, he has been out of action for almost two months now because of a quadricep tendon injury. While the BCCI provided no updates on him when they gave the latest on Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Shami and Prasidh Krishna in the lead-up to the IPL, the PTI reported on Monday that he would be fit for LSG's first game after getting an all-clear from the NCA. He may not keep wicket in the first few games though, and they have solid keeping options in Quinton de Kock and Nicholas Pooran.

There's one change in their bowling ranks. The ECB pulled out fast bowler Mark Wood to manage his workload before the T20 World Cup in June. He has been replaced by West Indies' latest pace sensation Shamar Joseph.

On Wednesday, Justin Langer also said David Willey will miss the first few games of the IPL for personal reasons.

LSG bolstered their seam-bowling stocks at the 2024 auction by acquiring Shivam Mavi, David Willey, Arshad Khan and Arshin Kulkarni who became a star during the recent Under-19 World Cup. M Siddharth was the only spinner they added to their ranks as a back-up for Ravi Bishnoi.

To boost their batting, they traded in Devdutt Padikkal, who recently earned a Test cap, and bought hard-hitting middle-order batter Ashton Turner at the auction.

LSG have made changes in the coaching staff, too. After not renewing Andy Flower's contract, they brought in Justin Langer as the head coach and Lance Klusener as assistant coach. It will be Langer's first assignment in the IPL although he has won three BBL titles with Perth Scorchers and the T20 World Cup with Australia in 2021.

With enough top-order options in Padikkal, de Kock, Kyle Mayers and Deepak Hooda, Rahul may slot in the middle order this IPL. He will be accompanied by Pooran and Marcus Stoinis there, who are already a big threat to any bowling attack. But what they missed the last time, especially in the Eliminator, was the lack of runs from Indian batters. Hooda managed just 84 runs in 12 innings. The LSG management would be hoping for much better returns this time.

LSG also boast a line-up studded with allrounders in Stoinis, Willey, Krunal Pandya, K Gowtham, Prerak Mankad and Kulkarni.

They have an aggressive Naveen-ul-Haq. A wicket-taking but expensive option in Yash Thakur. A vivacious Shamar Joseph but with an experience of only two T20s to date. A penetrative Mohsin Khan.

What this line-up lacks is that big-name fast bowler who has proven himself at the international stage for some years and can lead the attack. Thakur was their only quick among the top 20 wicket-takers last IPL and the sooner one of them goes higher on that list this time, the better LSG's season will be.

LSG play four games in the fixtures announced so far, with a spread-out schedule. After their opener against Rajasthan Royals on the first Sunday of this IPL, they have a five-day gap. Then they have two matches in four days and a four-day gap before returning to Lucknow for their second home game.