Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have commenced their preparation for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season. The Rishabh Pant-led team has decided to send 3 domestic bowlers to South Africa for training.
The pacers will fine-tune their skills with players of the Durban Super Giants, LSG’s sister franchise in the SA20. The 2025-26 edition of the tournament will commence on December 26 and end on January 25.
LSG starts mission IPL 2026
According to Cricbuzz, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, and Naman Tiwari are certain to fly to Durban next week. But one or two more players could join them. LSG have already sought performance from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and have been granted permission since none of them are featuring in the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT).
Avesh and Mohsin are currently injured. Both underwent knee surgeries in July and were ruled out for at least 6 months. Avesh featured in 13 matches for LSG this year but hasn’t played since while Mohsin’s last game came on December 31, 2024.
As for Naman, he hasn’t been picked by Uttar Pradesh in their VHT squad and is yet to make his domestic debut. The 20-year-old was bought for INR 1 crore by LSG at the IPL 2026 auction after Rajasthan Royals showed interest in the left-arm pacer who can consistently bowl upwards of 140 kmph.
The bowlers will work under Lance Klusener, Tom Moody, Bharat Arun, and Carl Crowe in Durban. The latter three are also part of LSG’s support staff and can monitor their progress to IPL 2026, in what will be Moody and Bharat’s first stint at LSG.
At this point, it’s uncertain how long Avesh, Mohsin, and Naman will stay with the Durban Super Giants. Considering the first two gain fitness, they might be used to play in the second leg of the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy, which commences on January 22. Naman will earn his maiden UP call-up and be asked to return.
LSG full squad for IPL 2026
Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Nicholas Pooran (wk)✈️, Mitchell Marsh✈️, Aiden Markram✈️, Abdul Samad, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke✈️, Shahbaz Ahamad, Arshin Kulkarni, Ayush Badoni, Digvesh Rathi, Avesh Khan, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, M Siddharth, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Mohammad Shami (traded in), Arjun Tendulkar (traded in), Wanindu Hasaranga✈️, Anrich Nortje✈️, Mukul Choudhary, Naman Tiwari, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Josh Inglis (wk)✈️
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