NEW DELHI: Lucknow Super Giants skipper Rishabh Pant won the toss and opted to bowl first against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their IPL 2026 match in Lucknow on Friday.LSG benched Aussie batter Josh Inglis, however he was in the impact players list and is expected to bat in the second innings.Abdul Samad and Mukul Choudhary came in for LSG, while for CSK handed Spencer Johnson his debut in a yellow jersey.“We’re going to look[ing] bowl first. The wicket is looking a little bit tacky, so just did not need to go out there andbat ourselves. As a team, we have a lot to achieve. We are a team, we run on trust, and that is something we are looking forward to. I think a lot of like Akash is playing today. I think he’s getting his first chance of the season. We are trying a few things for the next season for sure. And just looking to give our 200% regardless of anything. (Does it free you up or does it mean more pressure on you because the performances haven’t been what you wanted?) Definitely, there is no running away from the way we have played this season. But at the same time, there is a lot of positive what we can take because, we are a little frustrated as a team because we know we have it in the team. We can make it happen and sometimes things doesn’t work your way, but at the same time, no complaints from that side. We’ve got to still play good cricket and look to improve ourselves each and every day. (How many other changes do you have to your side?) We have two more changes. Abdul Samad and Mukul also come in,” Pant said at the toss.While CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad said, “It is a privilege to have (the support), privilege to wear the yellow jersery. It’s a kind of venue where you have to bat well and bowl well. So I think, batting first, we still have to put up a good score and we have seen that it has been defended as well. So I think, yes, it might suit, look like [there’s] a bit of a moisture to start with, but I think, if we bat well and score I think around 170-180, it will be a good total to defend. (How are you dealing with all these injuries?) Honestly, it’s tough. Obviously, you have to keep changing a lot, once you find a momentum and once you find a squad, you want to keep going. But this is something which we cannot control and with that said, I think it gives opportunities to a lot of players who want to represent CSK and be part of the IPL. So, whatever replacements we have had, Urvil coming in and at some point of time, Mukesh coming in as well. So that has definitely helped them grow individually as well. And it gives us the confidence going ahead, we know that we have good backups in. So whenever we have a good squad, we are quite confident we’ll deliver. Well, it’s been a must-win since a while now for us. We just want to take one game at a time. Yes, it’s hard to ignore the table, but we want to still keep our eyes down here, as is the pitch, adapt accordingly and make sure we be the best team to adapt it. Changes? Yes, we’ve got a couple of changes. Spencer Johnson makes his debut and Gurjapneet comes in for Akeal as well.”Teams:Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Urvil Patel, Kartik Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Prashant Veer, Anshul Kamboj, Noor Ahmad, Spencer Johnson, Mukesh ChoudharyLucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Mukul Choudhary, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Shami, Mayank Yadav, Akash Maharaj Singh, Prince Yadav Impact substitutes for both the teams:Chennai Super Kings Impact Subs: Gurjapneet Singh, Akeal Hosein, Sarfaraz Khan, Matthew Short, Matt HenryLucknow Super Giants Impact Subs:Josh Inglis, Manimaran Siddharth, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Himmat Singh, Ayush Badoni
