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In the IPL 2026 match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Royal Challengers Bengaluru`s (RCB) skipper Rajat Patidar has won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Ekana Cricket Stadium B Ground in Lucknow.
After winning the toss, RCB skipper Patidar said, “We will bowl first. It`s not as loud as Chinnaswamy, but it`s still loud. I think we`re gonna get a pretty hard surface, but I`m not sure, it`s a black soil pitch and the past four or five matches here had low scores. We`ll try to restrict them to as low a score as possible. (on the break) It was a good break I would say. And everyone is looking in good frame of mind. And we came together after six or seven days of pretty hard work plus a couple of weeks. As I said, everyone is doing pretty well throughout the tournament and we are looking forward for this game. We`re playing with the same team”.
The Super Giants will enter the clash with two changes. Josh Inglis will make way for Arshin Kulkarni, and Shahbaz Ahmed will replace M Siddharth.
LSG`s captain Rishabh Pant said, “We have a few injuries in our team. So Arshin (Kulkarni) comes in for Inglis, he`s a little injured. Mohsin is also little injured, and Shahbaz (Ahmed) comes in for Sid (Manimaran Siddharth). (Conversations within the side?) The only thing is moving with more clarity. We know we are the top players, but at the same time, when clarity is missing sometimes, it can happen in cricket. So most of the time, the talk is about clarity, and there are a few changes in the batting order, so hopefully we can figure out and take it for the next season”.
“Having a stable environment in T20 cricket is essential, but at the same time, when the changes are needed, you should be able to change something, because every time, doing the same thing might not give you the same outcome. So trying sometimes, especially where we stand now, trying is not a bad option for sure. (Good score on this pitch?) It looks like 180-190 wicket for sure. It`s a better wicket than a lot of the matches for sure,” he added.
IPL 2026, Lucknow Super Giants vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Confirmed Playing XIs
Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Arshin Kulkarni, Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), Akshat Raghuwanshi, Himmat Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Digvesh Rathi, Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (C), Jitesh Sharma (WK), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam.
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