LSG hire ex-Uganda head coach as Jonty Rhodes' replacement to bolster fielding for IPL 2026

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have roped in Abhay Sharma as their fielding coach for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. Sharma has joined LSG coaching staff as legendary Jonty Rhodes' replacement.

Sharma has a vast coaching experience. He had been part of India's Under-19 coaching setup for several years including the 2018 triumph which featured Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill.  and others. He has worked with the likes of Rishabh Pant, Arshdeep Singh, Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal and others too.

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Later, he coached the Indian women's team as well. In 2024, he was head coach of Uganda who made their maiden T20 World Cup appearance. He parted ways with Uganda team after they failed to qualify for the 2026 edition. 

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Abhay's domestic numbers

The former Delhi and Railways wicketkeeper-batter has played 89 first-class games and 40 List A games. He has 4,105 runs in red-ball cricket at an average of 35.38, including nine centuries, 20 fifties. In white-ball cricket, he has 780 runs from 35 innings at an average of 23.63, including a half-century.

LSG coaching staff changes 

Sharma is the latest entrant in the coaching staff which has underwent a few changes. LSG have already appointed Tom Moody as their global director of cricket and given the role of strategic advisor to former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson who has retired from T20Is. In addition, they have also acquired the services of Bharat Arun, replacing former left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan, who was their mentor in the previous season.

However, Justin Langer has managed to hold his position as their head coach. Lance Klusener is their assistant coach and Carl Crowe is their spin bowling coach.

LSG missed playoffs last season

In the previous season, LSG made Rishabh Pant their captain after roping him at the mega auction for a record bid of Rs 27 crore. They finished seventh on the points table with eight losses from 14 games. This was the second consecutive season LSG missed making it to the playoffs. 

LSG squad for IPL 2026 

Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, Aiden Markram, Matthew Breetzke, Himmat Singh, Rishabh Pant (c), Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arshin Kulkarni, Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Manimaran Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Prince Yadav, Akash Singh, Mohammed Shami, Arjun Tendulkar, Josh Inglis, Mukul Choudhary, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Anrich Nortje, Wanindu Hasaranga, Naman Tiwari.