When Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) hosted Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in 2025, it had little more than pride left to play for while the visitor was looking to convert league-stage promise into a spot in the top two. A year on, the dial has not shifted much as the two sides meet at the Ekana International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Rishabh Pant and LSG’s tournament now hangs by a thread after a six-wicket loss to Mumbai Indians made it six defeats in a row, and it needs victory to stay alive in the tournament.
Pant, who scored an unbeaten ton in that match, has 204 runs at a strike-rate of 128.30 this year, and is symptomatic of a wider malaise in an LSG batting group that has struggled to find any consistent rhythm.
While it will be buoyed by Nicholas Pooran’s return to form in Mumbai, the chopping and changing continued as early-season hero Mukul Choudhary joined Ayush Badoni in losing his spot in the side, while a returning Josh Inglis became the fifth opener used this year.
Part of LSG’s batting struggles can be attributed to the home conditions. No other venue has offered bowlers as much assistance as the Ekana, where wickets have come at just 19.93. This has been especially evident with the new ball, setting the stage for it to meet RCB’s new-ball pair of the returning Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood, whose combined 25 wickets have underpinned its success this year.
Spin duo Suyash Sharma and Krunal Pandya have been quietly consistent as well, though there are few question marks surrounding its remaining bowling stocks.
LSG’s best chance of success will likely come through its own impressive pace battery – including Mohammad Shami, Mohsin Khan, and Prince Yadav – despite a tough outing at the Wankhede. Whether it plays Mayank Yadav, whose sole appearance this year came in the reverse fixture, remains to be seen.
It will look to strike early and expose an RCB middle-order that has wobbled at times, as typified by a collapse of six for 47 in its last outing against Gujarat Titans. No team has scored quicker than RCB from numbers five to eight (9.91), but no team has lost wickets as frequently (15.2 balls per dismissal) either.
Jitesh Sharma, who starred in this encounter last year with an unbeaten 85 from 33 balls, is particularly under the scanner having looked woefully short of rhythm for his 63 runs in seven outings at 112.50.
Published on May 06, 2026