LSG opt to bowl against PBKS in Dharamsala's first game this IPL

Lucknow Super Giants opt to bowl vs Punjab Kings

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) won the toss and chose to bowl against Punjab Kings (PBKS) because that "gives them the advantage of seeing how the game unfolds".

If that suggests a tinge of uncertainty, it's likely to do with the conditions in Dharamsala. This is its first match of IPL 2025, and there has been rain in the two days leading into this game. Shreyas Iyer, the PBKS captain, noted that there was moisture in the pitch to start with, and that he too would've preferred to bowl.

PBKS have a chance to go up to second place with a win on Sunday night, and in service of that, they brought Marcus Stoinis back into the XI. LSG were sitting outside the top four heading into the game, and could go up to fifth place with a win. They included Rajasthan's Akash Singh, a left-arm seam bowler with 16 wickets in 20 matches. Ravi Bishnoi has been left out, which suggests they feel the pitch won't offer a lot to the spinners.

Punjab Kings: Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Josh Inglis (wk), Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh

PBKS bench: Vijaykumar Vyshak, Harpreet Brar, Pravin Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Xavier Bartlett

Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), Nicholas Pooran, David Miller, Aiden Markram, Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Akash Singh, Avesh Khan, Mayank Yadav, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi

LSG bench: Ravi Bishnoi, Mitchell Marsh, Himmat Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Matthew Breetzke