Punjab Kings (PBKS) won the toss and chose to bowl first against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their do-or-die IPL 2026 clash at the Ekana Cricket stadium on May 23. Meanwhile, Arjun Tendulkar made debut for LSG. Meanwhile, Arshin Kulkarni also walked into LSG's playing XI. On the other hand, PBKS brought in Marco Jansen and Vyshak Vijaykumar in their playing XI.
What did the captains say at the toss?
PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer, after winning the toss, said:
"We're going to bowl first. We've got two changes, Marco (Jansen) and Vyshak (Vijaykumar) come in. It is suddenly exciting (on being in a do-or-die situation). It's like a do or die game for us. I would say rather do. So it's looking forward to the challenge. Never been in this situation before, as in the league table. But the boys are super excited. They're eagerly waiting to see how it turns out at the end of the day."
ALSO READ: Virat Kohli refuses post-match handshake with Travis Head after on-field tussle; video goes viral
Meanwhile, LSG skipper Rishabh Pant, after losing the toss, said:
"Rishabh Pant - I think we would have bowled first also because the wicket here, this wicket is good for batting irrespective of bowling first or batting first. It definitely is one of the better wickets where we have played this season. I think it's going to be one of the most high scoring matches. We have two changes. Arjun (Tendulkar) comes in and Arshin (Kulkarni) come in. Everyone knows it's been a tough season for us, but it has also been a time of significant learning, both as a team and personally. We sincerely apologize to our fans who have come in big numbers to support us from across the country, especially from all of UP. At the same time, we are determined to come back stronger as a team, regardless of the outcome, to cheer them up and we will give our 100%."
ALSO READ: Massive blow to KKR's playoff hopes, star player ruled out of IPL 2026 ahead of DC clash
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI):
Josh Inglis, Arshin Kulkarni, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Arjun Tendulkar, Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav, Mohsin Khan
Lucknow Super Giants Imact Subs: Shahbaz Ahmed, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Manimaran Siddharth, Himmat Singh, Akash Maharaj Singh
Punjab Kings (Playing XI):
Prabhsimran Singh(w), Priyansh Arya, Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
Punjab Kings Impact Subs: Harpreet Brar, Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Praveen Dubey