LSG vs KKR Playing 11 and Toss News, IPL 2026: No Pathirana for Kolkata, but Lucknow make one change

We are going to bowl first. Just one change – Linde comes in for Siddharth. We are working towards it. We have to find a way, we are pretty close to it. We know we can turn around the season from here, I am pretty confident.

Rishabh Pant won the toss for Lucknow Super Giants and elected to field first against Kolkata Knight Riders, putting the visitors in to bat in this crucial clash.

(To what extent is the batting challenge different in 2026?) Well, I’ve probably got a similar strike rate to what my dad used to have, so I’m trying to work on that. But we’ve had our challenges with the bat. We haven’t been able to get going in the power play. We haven’t had the loss wickets, or just haven’t been able to find a rhythm to set up our innings. So we’re looking to make as much impact as we can tonight in those first six overs and hopefully get back to winning ways. (Your coach – Justin Langer compared this pitch to the WACA in Australia. Do you feel it’s the best, or do you agree?) It’s probably not quite the WACA, but I think I mean, I’ve certainly enjoyed batting here. It is a big ground, but in terms of grounds around the world, it’s still reasonably small. So I think you get rewarded for really strong cricket shots. And it’s one of the grounds where you can get in. It can sometimes be a little bit hard to get in, but once you do get in, it’s a great place to bat. So hopefully we can pull off a few really strong partnerships tonight. (Your thoughts around that opening combination for LSG?) Look, those discussions are probably above my pay grade when it comes to this franchise, thankfully. I don’t mind who I open the batting with, to be honest. I think whoever it is, it’s all about us getting off to as good a start as possible and just having an impact.

We are just moments away from the toss between Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders. Both teams will be eager to get things right from the start as they look to turn their campaigns around.

We are back in Lucknow again, and this venue has been the lowest scoring venue so far this season. Average score being around 155-156. Well, let’s start with the dimension because it is a bigger venue, but it has a smaller size this evening. On my right, it’s 64 meters, but on my left is the longest side, which is 69. Straight down is pretty long as well, 73m. Now, for the pitch, I have Simon Katich here. Katich, this has been, like I mentioned, lowest scoring venue, but this strip here is a black soil one, which is being used for the first time this season. Yeah, pitch number six, when we looked down it and said, there’s some runner cracks, almost deep soil lines. So I just wonder whether there might be some variable bounce off those cracks tonight. The other difference that we see in a black soil pitch compared to the red soil from the other night’s match against RR, is the bounce. So on the red soil, on average, there’s 9cm more bounce, which brought a lot of the batters undone the other night with the odd bouncer and the short ball with the deeper pockets out square. So that might be the difference here on this pitch tonight. It might be a little bit lower bounce, a little bit of variable bounce. The other thing that’s noticeable at this venue is that eight of the last 11 games here have been won by the chasing team. That didn’t happen for LSG the other night. I’d like to see their tactics changed in the way they go about the first 10 overs of their innings. They’ve got plenty of overseas power, but they weren’t able to utilise that at the back end of the innings because they’d gone too hard too early. I don’t think this is a high-scoring pitch either because the crack that you mentioned, and this looks a little tacky, so be careful, especially if you’re batting first.

All eyes will be on the Lucknow Super Giants’ batting unit as they look to regain momentum. None of the top order batters have fired consistently, including the likes of Rishabh Pant, Mitchell Marsh, and Nicholas Pooran. Meanwhile, the top order has seen too many changes in combinations, which the team will also be eager to finalise in this game.

Lucknow Super Giants have clearly had the upper hand over Kolkata Knight Riders in their IPL meetings so far. Out of the 7 matches played between the two sides, LSG have won 5 times, while KKR have managed just 2 victories.

“Look, I think everyone at the moment knows that probably our batting is a little bit short (of) where it needs to be and no more than the players themselves. But I can assure there’s every kind of work, conversations and guys working hard in the net to overcome that. We feel we are one match away from smashing it where we need to be and all the batters are quality players in each one of them.”

The Lucknow Super Giants and the Kolkata Knight Riders are at the bottom of the table. LSG is currently in the ninth spot after winning two games and losing five matches in the seven apearances they have made.

KKR are at the bottom of the table with just three points in the table. They are, however, coming off a strong victory over RR, and it could help change things for them.

Lucknow Super Giants Probable Playing XI: Mitchell Marsh, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant (wk/c), Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram, Mukul Choudhary, Mohammed Shami, Mohsin Khan, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Mayank Yadav.

Himmat Singh: Impact Player

Kolkata Knight Riders Probable Playing XI: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Tim Seifert (wk), Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi, Varun Chakaravarthy

Angkrish Raghuvanshi: Impact Player

LSG vs KKR is an interesting fixture as both teams will look to put up a fight to come out of the bottom. Expect some key player battles in the competition as well.

Nicholas Pooran vs Matheesha Pathirana will be one solid battle to watch out for, given that the SL pacer is named in the Playing XI.

Prince Yadav and Ajinkya Rahane will be another key battle as the KKR skipper will look to break the rut, while the sensational Prince will have his eye on his wicket.

KKR receives a boost as Matheesha Pathirana has finally joined the KKR squad and has been training at full tilt with the franchise. Death overs have been crucial, and the Knight Riders having Pathirana would be a tremendous boost to their bowling unit.

Reports have suggested that he is in line to make his KKR debut against LSG in Lucknow.

The toss for the LSG vs KKR IPL 2026 match will take place at 07:00 PM IST. The match will start at 07:30 PM IST.

The LSG vs KKR match will be getting underway in Lucknow later this evening. Stay tuned for more updates.