LSG vs SRH Predicted Playing XI: Pant may drop Miller to include O'Rourke, Cummins to shuffle top order in Head's absence

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) may not have much to play for having been eliminated from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 playoffs race but Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will look to revive their campaign. The Rishabh Pant-led side have had enough time to regroup following the one week suspension of the IPL 2025. This is a must-win contest for them at home.

LSG won't tinker with their top-order featuring three overseas stars. The middle-order batting and bowling has been the missing piece of the puzzle. Pant will back himself to come back in form but in order to bolster their pace attack, he may hand IPL debut to William O'Rourke, sacrificing David Miller's spot. So far, Miller has scored 153 runs from 11 games at an average of 30.60. His strike rate is 127.50, very ordinary for a finisher this year. LSG can include Shahbaz Ahmed in the middle order, another left-handed batter. In addition, Shahbaz can contribute with the ball as well.

LSG Predicted Playing XI plus impact player -

Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant, Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed/David Miller, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi / William O'Rourke, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Prince Yadav, Avesh Khan

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On the other hand, SRH's star opener Travis Head is unavailable after contracting Covid-19. Their South African all-rounder Wiaan Mulder is unavailable as well. This will lead to a change in the top-order. Ishan Kishan is likely to open alongside Abhishek Sharma and Nitish Kumar Reddy will come at no.3. In the absence of Head, they may give a chance to Sachin Baby or Harsh Dubey.

SRH Predicted Playing XI plus impact player

Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kamindu Mendis, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Sachin Baby/ Abhinav Manohar/ Harsh Dubey, Pat Cummins(c), Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Zeeshan Ansari, Eshan Malinga

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LSG vs SRH Pitch Report -

With temperatures rising, a 200-plus total will be tough to get. The bowlers may look to test the batters, utilising the big boundaries at Ekana Cricket Stadium. The pitch is likely to aid spinners.

LSG vs SRH Full Squads:

LSG Full Squad: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Avesh Khan, Prince Yadav, Akash Maharaj Singh, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Ravi Bishnoi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Shardul Thakur, Manimaran Siddharth, Aryan Juyal, RS Hangargekar, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Arshin Kulkarni, William ORourke, Akash Deep

SRH Full Squad: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Sachin Baby, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins(c), Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Zeeshan Ansari, Eshan Malinga, Travis Head, Mohammed Shami, Harsh Dubey, Rahul Chahar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kamindu Mendis, Atharva Taide, Simarjeet Singh, Smaran Ravichandran