Royal Challengers Bengaluru opener Phil Salt has been out of action since the game against Delhi Capitals on April 18. He scored 63 runs in the match. However, since then, Salt has been under monitoring for a finger injury and it was recently that the cricketer returned to England for further scans. He is expected to join the Bengaluru squad soon, but neither the player nor the franchise has confirmed anything so far.
In Salt’s absence, Jacob Bethell has opened alongside Virat Kohli. The young England international was once advised by former cricketer Alastair Cook to return home to play Country cricket, but Bethell has cemented his spot in the XI. However, he is yet to enjoy a breakthrough innings for RCB. Last year, he showed tremendous potential, leading to RCB retaining him this season but Bethell is yet to prove his mettle.
RCB opt to field first vs LSG
Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar had won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Ekana Stadium. LSG captain, Rishabh Pant, on the other hand, announced that the team made several changes to the playing XI, as Josh Inglis and Mohsin Khan aren’t fit. Shahbaz Ahmed replaced Manimaran Siddharth as part of a strategic change. Arshin Kulkarni also returned to the playing XI.
“We have a few injuries in our team. So Arshin (Kulkarni) comes in for Inglis, he's a little injured. Mohsin is also little injured, and Shahbaz (Ahmed) comes in for Sid (Manimaran Siddharth),” Pant said after the toss.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam Dar, Josh Hazlewood
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh, Arshin Kulkarni, Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (wk/c), Akshat Raghuwanshi, Himmat Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav
