The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have won the toss and opted to bowl first against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the 50th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. RCB has made no changes, while LSG has made a couple of forced changes due to injury.
Why did RCB choose to bowl?
RCB captain Rajat Patidar feels it’s a better batting surface than usual. He feels they already have a balanced team and makes no changes to their team.
“We will bowl first. It’s not as loud as Chinnaswamy, but it’s still loud. The surface looks good, and we’ll look to restrict them to a low score. The break was good; everyone is doing well, and we had some hard practice. We are playing with the same team,” Patidar said after winning the toss.
Josh Inglis had injured himself in the last match while fielding and isn’t fit for selection. Mohsin Khan has a niggle, while Avesh Khan has been dropped. Arshin Kulkarni, Digvesh Rathi, and Shahbaz Ahmed come in for them. LSG captain Rishabh Pant backed what Patidar said and feels 180 to 190 will be the par score here.
“Few changes in our team. Some injuries – Inglis and Mohsin Khan miss out. The only thing is to move with clarity. We know we’re a top team, but the main thing is clarity. We have a few changes in the batting order. Having a stable environment is needed, but we need to make changes at times. Looks like a 180-190 wicket, a better wicket than most of the other games,” said Pant.
LSG vs RCB: Playing XIs & Impact Subs
Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Arshin Kulkarni, Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Akshat Raghuwanshi, Himmat Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav
- Impact Subs: Jordan Cox, Tim David, Mangesh Yadav, Vicky Ostwal, Venkatesh Iyer
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam Dar, Josh Hazlewood
- Impact Subs: Mayank Yadav, Mukul Choudhary, Abdul Samad, Manimaran Siddharth, Avesh Khan
Ekana Cricket Stadium Pitch Report
The LSG vs RCB match is expected to be a low-scoring encounter. 165 is the highest total made in Lucknow after 4 matches. One has to remember that pitches slow down due to wear and tear in the second half of IPL. That suggests the par score will remain between 150 and 170. The ball comes better under lights, which is why teams prefer to chase. The data proves this, as chasing teams have an advantage at the venue.
IPL record at Ekana Cricket Stadium for toss winners
There’s a massive advantage for teams winning the toss at the venue. 16 of 26 matches have been won by them. Batting second has also been more fruitful: chasing teams have won 14 out of 26 matches at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in the IPL.
| Total Matches | Matches Won after Winning Toss | Matches Lost after Winning Toss | Matches Won Batting First | Matches Won Batting Second |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | 16 (61.54%) | 9 (34.62%) | 11 (42.31%) | 14 (53.85%) |
LSG vs RCB: Who has the advantage?
LSG is one of the few teams that can match RCB’s powerplay bowling. Mohsin Khan, Mohammed Shami, and Prince Yadav can go toe-to-toe with Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. But LSG lacks wicket-takers in the middle overs. Digvesh Rathi and M Siddharth haven’t taken wickets like Suyash Sharma and Krunal Pandya.
But the batting is the biggest point of difference. Akshat Raghuwanshi and Josh Inglis are the only two LSG batters with strike rates of over 150, and they’ve scored 11 and 13 runs, respectively. Meanwhile, RCB have 4 batters with at least 200 runs and a strike rate of over 165. That’s why RCB will have an advantage in the match.
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