Krunal Pandya should bowl with the new ball against LSG.
Krunal Pandya has bowled only a solitary over in the powerplay in IPL 2026. Around 92.30% of his overs have come in the middle phase. However, he might need to bowl a few more with the new ball against LSG.
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LSG openers – Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram – can have issues against left-arm spin, especially at the start of the innings. Markram, specifically, has had historical problems against this bowling type. In 2026 alone, he has been dismissed five times in 87 balls, averaging just 22.40 against them.
Four of those dismissals have come in the powerplay itself, where he had lost his wicket every 10.25 deliveries and struck at 136.58. Krunal has removed him three times in eight balls. Only Axar Patel (4) has dismissed him more among all left-arm spinners, but he has bowled 40 deliveries.
For Markram, the stump lines have been a perennial issue, resulting in a lot of dismissals against spin. Since the T20 World Cup, Markram has struck at 138.88 and lost his wicket thrice in 18 deliveries on the off or middle-stump line against spin. He plays around 33.33% false shots on such deliveries.
Meanwhile, Mitchell Marsh has done better than Markram against spin this year: 37.83 average, 144.58 strike rate, & 6 dismissals. But he’s still a slow starter against slow bowlers and can be contained when not set. He has a strike rate of just 111.54 and has hit just three boundaries in the first 10 balls this year.
Like Markram, Marsh has been troubled by straighter lines in recent times against spinners. He has a strike rate of 80 and has been dismissed twice in 15 deliveries on the middle and off-stump line since the T20 World Cup. Hence, spinners will have an easier task in the powerplay.
Since IPL 2025, Krunal Pandya has dismissed 15 RHBs, out of which four wickets have come from the stump line only. On these lines, he has bowled around 23.91% of total balls and conceded only 7.96 runs per over, extracting around 27.27% of false shots. He will need to bowl more on these lines should RCB introduce him in the powerplay.
If he takes the new ball, RCB will easily use Suyash Sharma against LSG’s middle-order batter, most of whom are vulnerable to slow bowlers. Both LHBs – Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran – have had issues against spin, and Suyash can take the ball away from them with googlies. Meanwhile, Mukul Choudhary and Abdul Samad can also be restricted by spin in the lower order.
So, the defending champions can afford to use Krunal Pandya against two of the team’s better batters, with a clear weakness against SLA. He has played every role in the recent couple of seasons and won’t have many issues in the powerplay. Straight lines in good length areas should be planned straight away.
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