IPL 2025, LSG vs GT: Decoding the key player battles
What's the story
The 26th match of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) will witness a clash between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Gujarat Titans (GT).
The game will be played on April 12 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
Both teams have had a great start to the season, with LSG currently placed fifth and GT sitting second on the points table.
Here we decode the player battles.
#1
Shubman Gill vs Shardul Thakur
GT skipper Shubman Gill has been guilty of not converting his starts this season.
He would want to play an innings of substance in the upcoming game.
As per ESPNcricinfo, the star batter has struggled against Shardul Thakur, LSG's man with the golden arm, as the latter has dismissed the GT star twice across six IPL meetings.
The batter's strike rate in this battle is just 115.78.
#2
Sai Sudharsan vs Prasidh Krishna
The face-off between Sai Sudharsan and Prasidh Krishna would also be enticing as both players have been in fine touch.
While the former owns a total of 273 runs this season at a sensational average of 54.60, Krishna has dismissed 10 batters.
The pacer, however, will have his task cut out as he owns a poor IPL average of 39.78 against left-handed batters.
#3
Nicholas Pooran vs Rashid Khan
The in-form Nicholas Pooran is pivotal to LSG's middle-over plans and in that phase, he will have to negotiate with Rashid Khan's bowling.
Notably, Pooran has been a six-hitting machine this season while Rashid has looked out of touch.
However, across five T20 meetings, the southpaw has only scored 77 runs at a strike rate of 116.66, besides being dismissed twice.
#4
Mitchell Marsh vs Mohammed Siraj
Mitchell Marsh has crossed the 50-run mark four times across five outings this season.
However, he would be required to negotiate Mohammed Siraj's thunderbolts in the powerplay overs.
Notably, 7 of Siraj's 10 scalps this season have come in the first six overs.
The LSG opener has been striking at 180.27 in this phase in IPL 2025.