IPL 2026, CSK vs LSG 53rd Match Match Preview
Big image: IPL’s bowling leaders on present
For everybody demanding higher stability between bat and ball in IPL 2026, Sunday night is a must-see. Two of the season’s finest bowling assaults face off, even when neither are within the top-four.
Form information
Chennai Super Kings: WWLWL (final 5 accomplished matches, most up-to-date first)
Lucknow Super Giants: WLLLL
Key questions
Team information: Will Dhoni play?
Chennai Super Kings: 1 Sanju Samson (wk), 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 3 Urvil Patel, 4 Kartik Sharma, 5 Dewald Brevis, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Jamie Overton, 8 Akeal Hosein, 9 Anshul Kamboj, 10 Noor Ahmed, 11 Mukesh Choudhary, 12 Gurjapneet Singh
Josh Inglis, Mohsin Khan and Avesh Khan missed LSG’s final recreation with little niggles. It is unclear in the event that they’re able to take their locations within the first-choice XII.
Lucknow Super Giants: 1 Mitchell Marsh, 2 Josh Inglis/Arshin Kulkarni, 3 Nicholas Pooran, 4 Rishabh Pant, 5 Aiden Markram, 6 Akshat Raghuwanshi, 7 Himmat Singh, 8 Shahbaz Ahmed, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Prince Yadav, 11 Mohsin Khan/Mayank Yadav, 12 Digvesh Rathi
In the highlight: Noor Ahmad and Digvesh Rathi
Noor Ahmad matches up very nicely towards LSG’s center order batters Aiden Markram (20 runs at a strike charge of 80 with one dismissal), Rishabh Pant (27 runs at a strike charge of 90) and Nicholas Pooran (two runs at a strike charge of 25 with two dismissals). CSK will financial institution on him conserving this up.
Stats and trivia: CSK’s dependence on Samson
- An indication of how a lot CSK’s batting depends upon Sanju Samson: he has batted previous the powerplay in 4 video games they usually gained all 4. He could not bat via the powerplay in six video games they usually gained just one.
- Urvil Patel has a balls-per-boundary ratio of two within the IPL (10 sixes and eight fours in 56 balls). He likes going after each ball he faces and that’s the technique that helped batters within the Indian workforce win a T20 World Cup. He might level to that as purpose to stick with this; that it is just a matter of time earlier than he lastly faces 20 balls in an innings.
- Mitchell Marsh averages 15.16 and strikes at 113.75 towards CSK. He has fared worse towards just one different IPL workforce and that is solely as a result of he is confronted Gujarat Titans in only one recreation.
- In his first eight innings this IPL, batting at No. 4 and 5, Nicholas Pooran had a strike charge of 81. In his final two innings, having been given his normal No. 3 spot, Pooran’s strike charge has shot as much as 230.
- Mohammed Shami is the joint-fourth-highest wicket-taker within the powerplay this season with seven wickets. He’s received a positive document towards Ruturaj Gaikwad within the IPL (57 runs in 74 balls for no wicket) however Samson’s smashed him (82 runs in 43 balls for one wicket).
Pitch and circumstances: Rain on the radar
Both groups canceled their observe classes resulting from rain and the forecast is for scattered showers on match day as nicely. A red-soil based mostly pitch, which introduced CSK’s first victory of the season, towards Delhi Capitals, will likely be used on Sunday. It spent a really very long time below the covers and is probably going to assist for the quick bowlers.
Quotes
“I said [Pant] is just one innings away from getting his best. So, last match he played a very match defining innings, even though it might have been short, but he played a match defining innings, just that we didn’t click fully well as a team. Otherwise, he is perfectly alright.”
LSG bowling coach Bharat Arun on his captain
“[Akeal and Noor] share a good rapport with each other. They help out each other on the ground. They’re well-prepared in terms of being tactically aware of what to plan against different oppositions.”
CSK assistant bowling coach S Sriram on Noor and Akeal Hosein’s spin-bowling partnership.
Alagappan Muthu is a senior deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo
