Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss and opted to bat first at Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. Du Plessis who returned as skipper after regaining full fitness, made two changes to the playing XI. After recovering from injury, Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood will play his first match of the season. Also, Anuj Rawat replaced Shahbaz Ahmed.
“There will be little more turn in the second innings I feel. I feel much better now. We got Hazlewood in tonight, and Anuj comes in for Shahbaz. Our squad is well-suited for these conditions. It is just about batting well tonight,” Du Plessis said after winning the toss.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper KL Rahul made just one change to the side. Rahul dropped Avesh Khan to include Krishnappa Gowtham in the playing XI.
“It is just going to be hardwork on this pitch for both teams. Just one change. Avesh Khan misses out and K Gowtham comes in. Having played here twice, we know that spin will be used more than pace here. Just want to hold our composure during crunch moments. The only thing we spoke about is to not come with a fixed mindset and we have got to bowl well and restrict them to a low total,” Rahul said at the coin toss.
Head-to-head
RCB and LSG have went up against each other on three occasions. RCB have had an edge over KL Rahul-led side as they have won two of these games.
LSG XI: KL Rahul(c), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Krishnappa Gowtham, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Amit Mishra, Yash Thakur
RCB XI: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Anuj Rawat, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudessai, Wanindu Hasaranga, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood
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