With only a few days left for the return of the prestigious T20 franchise cricket league – the Indian Premier League (IPL), the discussions around teams and a few players have already hit the roof. While the teams have kickstarted their preparations for the 19th edition of the tournament, recent performances of several players, including a few from Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have been put under scrutiny.
With the RPSG Group owned franchise eyeing their maiden title this season with a brand new identity, here in this article, let’s look at a few players who have been amidst talks due to their poor performances across the season. Although, the teams would look their key players to regain form, their biggest concern is the form of their captain Rishabh Pant, who has majorly struggled for consistency along with a few injury hiccups.
3 LSG players who are in poor form ahead of IPL 2026
Anrich Nortje
Anrich Nortje experienced a mixed T20 cricket season in 2025–26, largely influenced by injuries but also highlighted by some impressive comeback performances. The South African fast bowler, known for his extreme pace of over 150 km/h, returned to competitive T20 cricket during the 2025–26 period and showed glimpses of his wicket-taking ability. While he made limited number of appearances in national colours, he made a strong comeback in franchise cricket, while plying his trade for Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
Furthermore, Nortje has had a comparatively ineffective stint in the T20 World Cup 2026, has he has only picked three wickets across 2 matches while conceding 57 runs at an economy of 7.8.
Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant had a mixed T20 cricket season in 2025–26, with a few standout innings but overall inconsistent performances across tournaments. As a wicketkeeper-batter known for his aggressive batting style, Pant continued to play an important role for LSG in the Indian Premier League and in other domestic competitions but struggled for consistency for most of the time. While he showed flashes of brilliance with big hitting and a match-winning century, his overall numbers reflected lack of emulate his best performances.
Mitchell Marsh
Mitchell Marsh had a decent T20 season in 2025-26, producing a mix of impactful performances with the bat along with a few failures in international cricket as well as franchise leagues. Known to dominate bowlers in the middle overs especially, Marsh played some exceptional knocks for LSG in IPL 2025, one being the 117 off 64 deliveries against Gujarat Titans. But his stint in T20I saw a dip as he could only score 170 runs across 8 matches in 2025. Moreover, in Australia’s forgetable outing at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, Marsh amassed 118 runs from 2 innings.
Lucknow Super Giants IPL 2026 Squad
Batters: Rishabh Pant (C), Aiden Markram, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Mukul Choudhary, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran
All-rounders: Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahamad, Arshin Kulkarni, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ayush Badoni
Bowlers: Mohammad Shami, Avesh Khan, M. Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, Arjun Tendulkar, Anrich Nortje, Naman Tiwari, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan
