The LSG playing XI would feature three of their star performers from the last season in the IPL 2026.
The much-anticipated IPL 2026 is just around the corner, and the franchises are busy finding their final playing XI combinations for the 19th edition of the T20 spectacle. Let’s check out who the four overseas players are, set to feature in the LSG playing XI in the forthcoming season of the tournament.
The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are coming off a sub-par campaign, winning only six of their 14 league-stage fixtures. But the side have assembled a strong squad in the mini auction, including some key foreign buys like Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Inglis, and Anrich Nortje, to change their fortunes in the IPL 2026.
Three of the overseas players of Super Giants had put up some noteworthy shows in the last edition of the IPL, and they are also expected to continue a similar form for the franchise in the upcoming season. Let’s take a look at which new signing could join them in the LSG playing XI for the IPL 2026.
The T20I captains of South Africa and Australia, i.e., Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh, have had a stellar run while opening the innings for LSG in the IPL 2025. The Proteas’ batter put up 445 runs in 13 matches, scoring five fifties, at a strike rate of 148.82. He carried on a similar form while leading LSG’s sister franchise, the Durban’s Super Giants, in the SA20 2026.
Notably, Markram also had a decent outing in the recently concluded ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, notching up 286 runs in eight appearances, including two unbeaten 80-plus scores. Considering the current stats, the franchise would look to continue with their same opening pair for the IPL 2026.
The Australian opener was the fifth-highest run-getter of the previous IPL edition, registering 627 runs in 13 matches. His heroics also included six half-centuries and a hundred, striking at a fierce rate of 163.70. The BBL 2025 winning skipper also recorded 360 runs in 12 outings for the Perth Scorchers.
However, the batter missed the initial few games of the T20 World Cup 2026 due to injury issues. But Marsh scored a crucial 54 against Sri Lanka, followed by a 64 not out against Oman, in his only two appearances in the T20 championship. LSG would bank on the swashbuckling opener to carry on the same form in the IPL 2026.
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The third overseas player to feature in the LSG playing XI would be Nicholas Pooran. The Caribbean big-hitter has continued to deliver better performances with each passing year so far and will look to carry it forward in the IPL 2026 as well. He had scored 524 runs in 14 matches last season, laced with five fifty-plus knocks, at a blazing strike rate of 196.25.
Notably, with 40 sixes in the IPL 2025, the wicketkeeper-batter also held the record for hitting the most maximums in that edition. Despite enduring a lean patch in the latest SA20 season, scoring only 152 runs in 10 fixtures, the Lucknow management would back the finisher to get back to his best in the IPL 2026.
Wanindu Hasaranga could be another overseas star to enter the LSG playing XI for the IPL 2026. The team had roped in the all-rounder for INR 2 crore. He had a decent debut season for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) last year, snaring 11 scalps in as many appearances at an economy of 9.04.
Hasaranga’s inclusion in the line-up will boost LSG’s domestic-heavy spin attack, comprising Digvesh Rathi, Shahbaz Ahmed, and Manimaran Siddharth. However, the star Sri Lankan player might get ruled out of the IPL 2026. Earlier, Hasaranga was also sidelined from the T20 World Cup 2026 just after their first fixture due to a hamstring injury.
According to the rumours, if the 28-year-old fails to regain his match fitness for the upcoming 20-over league, the Super Giants might sign Caribbean left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie. The Lahore Qalandars player has also pulled out of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2026, scheduled to begin on March 26.
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