Mayank Yadav's recovery delayed due to a fresh toe injury

Injury Woes for LSG Ahead of Season Opener Against DC

The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will kick off their IPL 2025 campaign against the Delhi Capitals without four of their key Indian pacers—Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, and Akash Deep—all sidelined due to injuries of varying severity.

Speaking on the eve of the match in Vizag, head coach Justin Langer acknowledged the setback. “Yes, we’re well aware that four of our frontline bowlers are unavailable for the opener, and a couple might miss a few more games,” he said. “That’s the nature of sport, especially cricket. Fast bowling often brings injury concerns, so you always need to be ready to adapt. We never hope for injuries, but we do prepare for them. It may force us to tweak our game plan, but the silver lining is that some of these top-class bowlers will return as the tournament progresses.”

Mayank Yadav, the exciting Delhi pacer who burst onto the scene with back-to-back Player-of-the-Match performances last season, continues to be hampered by injuries. Just as he was recovering from a back injury, he suffered a freak toe injury after accidentally kicking a bed, leading to an infection that set his recovery back by one to two weeks.

“Mayank was making good progress, and then he unfortunately injured his toe,” Langer explained. “He’s on track now—we’ve seen recent bowling footage of him, including one just yesterday—so we're hopeful he’ll be ready for the latter half of the tournament.”

Mohsin Khan, another retained pacer, has been ruled out for the season after picking up a calf injury during rehab. He’s been replaced in the squad by Shardul Thakur.

There’s more optimism around Avesh Khan and Akash Deep, however. Avesh is dealing with a minor knee issue but could be cleared to play as early as the opener, pending approval from the National Cricket Academy (NCA). Akash Deep, recovering from a back injury, is nearing full fitness.

“Akash is bowling at about 90% intensity and has cleared his yo-yo test. He’s ticking all the right boxes,” Langer noted.

Adding further intrigue to LSG’s season is the arrival of their new captain, Rishabh Pant—acquired for a record-breaking INR 27 crore at the mega auction. Interestingly, his first outing as LSG skipper will be against his former franchise, the Delhi Capitals.

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