Double header matches will be played in IPL 2025 today, Saturday. In the first match, Lucknow Super Giants will face Gujarat Titans. This 26th match of the 18th season will be played at Lucknow’s home ground, Ekana Stadium. Lucknow has played 5 matches in the current season and won 3 of them. On the other hand, Gujarat, also with 5 matches, has won the last 4 matches in a row. Now, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill will look to continue this winning streak. Let’s take a look at the possible playing XIs for both teams.
Gujarat’s Top Order in Form
Gujarat’s top 4 batsmen — Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Jos Buttler, and Sherfane Rutherford — are in excellent form. On the other hand, Lucknow’s Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, and Nicholas Pooran are also performing well. However, Lucknow captain Rishabh Pant has struggled with the bat, despite being the most expensive player in IPL history. In the five matches played so far, Pant has scored only 0, 15, 2, and 2 runs. He will be hoping to break Gujarat’s winning streak by playing a big inning in front of home fans on Saturday.
Pooran in the Race for the Orange Cap
This will be Lucknow’s third match of IPL 2025 at home. Pant’s team, which has won its last two matches, could enter the playing XI without any changes. In the previous match at Ekana Stadium, Lucknow defeated Mumbai Indians by 12 runs. The victory was largely due to excellent bowling performances from Digvesh Rathi, Shardul Thakur, and Avesh Khan.
These three bowlers will be key players for Lucknow against Gujarat’s in-form attack. In batting, Lucknow will rely on Pooran and Marsh to continue their strong form. Pooran is currently leading the Orange Cap race in IPL 2025, while Marsh has scored four fifties in the five matches played so far.
Lucknow’s Probable Playing XI
Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (captain and wicketkeeper), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Akash Deep, Avesh Khan, Digvesh Singh Rathi
Impact Players: Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Manimaran Siddharth, Prince Yadav
Gujarat’s Form and Probable Playing XI
Gujarat Titans have won 4 out of 5 matches and sit at the top of the points table. Led by Shubman Gill, the team will look to keep their winning momentum going. Despite playing with just three foreign players in the playing XI, Gujarat has excelled in all departments. Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Jos Buttler, and Sherfane Rutherford are contributing with the bat, while Mohammed Siraj, Sai Kishore, and Prasidh Krishna are creating problems for opposing batsmen. It will be interesting to see whether Washington Sundar makes it to Gujarat’s playing XI, as he has only played one match this season and scored 49 runs in it.
Gujarat’s Probable Playing XI
Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (captain), Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Sherfane Rutherford, Washington Sundar, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Impact Players: Arshad Khan, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Nishant Sindhu, Kulwant Khejroliya