IPL 2025: LSG opt to bowl first against SRH, Rishabh Pant makes big change in Lucknow's fold; Know Playing XI of both teams

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) take on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as Rishabh Pant won the toss and opted to bowl first in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium on March 27.

SRH got the better of Rajasthan Royals in their IPL 2025 campaign opener, while LSG suffered a heartbreaking defeat against Delhi Capitals in their first match.

What did the captains say after the toss?

After winning the toss LSG captain Rishabh Pant, said:

"We will bowl first. I think we got to get them out early and look to chase the target. It depends on the team combination, that's why we want to bowl first. We have the batting to chase it down. The only change is Avesh comes back, Shahbaz misses out. We gonna chase whatever they score, doesn't matter."

Meanwhile, SRH skipper Pat Cummins, after losing the toss, said:

"It doesn't change the way our boys go about it, we always try to be positive. It's great fun. You know what you are signing up for coming into this tournament. Even going for 10 or 11 runs in an over, that can be match winning on somedays. We want to win games as a team and do well as a bowling unit. Hopefully we score big. We are playing with the same team like the other day."

SRH's Playing XI:

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins(c), Simarjeet Singh, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami

LSG's Playing XI:

Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant(w/c), David Miller, Ayush Badoni, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Digvesh Rathi, Prince Yadav

SRH vs LSG's Head-to-Head record in IPL

Hyderabad and Lucknow have faced each other in 4 matches in IPL. Out of these 4 games, Hyderabad have won 1 whereas Lucknow have come out victorious on 3 occasion.

Pitch Report

"On an average 24 sixes have been hit per game, last game 30 sixes were hit, 528 runs were scored, you guessed it right, we are in Hyderabad. Talking about the dimensions, it isn’t that small. On my right it’s 69m, on my left it’s 67m and straight down the ground it’s a 79m hit. It’s a fresh pitch, the last game was on the other one, it had a bit more grass on it. This pitch is barren, it doesn’t have a blade of grass. Sounds very, very firm. When I look at the good length area, it’s a bit abrasive, there are little cracks, I'm not saying the cracks are going to open up, it's still is a very good pitch to bat on but once the ball gets older, it might be a bit slower on the bat. It’s a red soil pitch, so there will be bounce and carry but expect the pitch to slow down a bit once the ball gets older. As far as dew is concerned, there wasn’t any in the last game, don't expect it be to here either. So, batting first and piling up the runs is the way to go. Last season, this pitch was used in two games and in all four innings, more than 200 runs were scored. Expect a 200-plus total here as well but maybe not that 300 total, maybe not tonight," Deep Dasgupta analysed the pitch.