LSG Look to Overcome Unhappy Homecoming Against Mumbai Indians

Pitch and Team Combination in Focus

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are set to face Mumbai Indians (MI) in their first home game of the season, looking to overcome an unhappy homecoming after their loss against Punjab Kings. The team is expected to revisit their playing combination, especially on a black-soil pitch that didn't have much in it for the spinners last season.

Key Players to Watch

• Akash Deep: The pacer has joined the squad and sounded confident about his match fitness. His return will be a huge bonus for LSG.
• Avesh Khan: The leggie has been effective against Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, but if he doesn't cut it with the new ball, Ravi Bishnoi comes in with great numbers against two key MI batters too.
• Ravi Bishnoi: The leggie has dismissed both Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar three times each.

Probable XIs

LSG: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (WK/C), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Prince Yadav/Akash Deep

MI: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton(w), Will Jacks/Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar, Vignesh Puthur/Satyanarayana Raju

Quotes from the Players

• Akash Deep: "I feel the first match is very important for me. I have played one practice match but after a two to three-month gap, you don't get the confidence until you play the match."
• Kieron Pollard: "It's about adaptability around whatever is presented on that particular day. As a former player and now part of coaching management, you want to be able to prepare for any eventuality and you try to control things that you can control."