Top 5 players to watch out for in the KKR vs LSG IPL 2025 match

Originally scheduled for Sunday, April 6 in Kolkata, the KKR vs LSG IPL 2025 match was rescheduled to be postponed due to religious proceedings in the city. The teams now gear up to stage the battle in an afternoon fixture of a double-header on Tuesday, April 8. The match will be the fifth league stage fixture for both Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants. The defending champions started their IPL 2025 campaign with a defeat at home against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. LSG also crashed in their opener against Delhi Capitals, as the hosts narrowly defeated them in the chase. Coming to the upcoming fixture, KKR and LSG are placed at the 5th and the 6th spot in the points table, respectively.

Key players to watch out for in the KKR vs LSG IPL 2025 match

Lucknow Super Giants still await a redemption in the form of their skipper, Rishabh Pant. Across the four matches, the newly appointed captain has not managed even 30 runs collectively. However, in Pant's dry slump, the team has gained significant support from Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran in the batting order. As for the bowling department, their last-minute injury replacement for Mohsin Khan, Shardul Thakur, has come up with a defining performance, picking up the most wickets for the team so far. Meanwhile, LSG have won two of their four matches in the season so far and will come to Eden Gardens at the back of their 12-run victory in the LSG vs MI match at home.

The defending champions have noted a similar trajectory to LSG so far, winning two and losing two of their matches in the season. After opening the campaign with a defeat at home in the KKR vs RCB fixture, the side, led by Ajinkya Rahane, brought their title defense back on track with a victory against Rajasthan Royals. However, Mumbai Indians, finding their first victory of the season, rattled KKR with a comprehensive 7-wicket victory at the Wankhede Stadium. In their last fixture, the KKR vs SRH match, Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh finally announced their arrival in IPL 2025, posting a total big enough to beat Hyderabad in the chase. With their next, the KKR vs LSG match, scheduled at home again, the defending champions would hope to one up Lucknow and chart up on the points table.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi

The defending champions are reaping the benefits of backing a young gun in their batting order. Angkrish Raghuvanshi has emerged as the highest scorer for his team in IPL 2025 so far. While the opening pair of Sunil Narine and Quinton de Kock have failed to fire consistently, Raghuvanshi in the middle puts up the needed resistance, along with his captain, Ajinkya Rahane. The 20-year-old hit his first half-century of the season in the last game, the KKR vs SRH IPL 2025 match, at home. Across the four innings, Raghuvanshi has accumulated 128 runs at an average of 42.66. With the KKR vs LSG match also slated in Kolkata, the youngster is poised as a key player to watch out for in the fixture.

Vaibhav Arora

Amid the likes of Harshal Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, and Sunil Narine, pacer Vaibhav Arora has managed to clinch a unique spot for himself with his early impact for the team. Coming in the powerplay, Arora has picked three wickets in the first six overs across the three matches he has played. In total, the seamer has scalped 6 wickets across the three matches at an economy of 9.45. Moreover, his best spell so far came in the last match against SRH at Eden Gardens, where he sent back Travis Head and Ishan Kishan in his first two overs in the powerplay. Overall, Arora picked up a 3/29 figure at the home turf.

Mitchell Marsh

Mitchell Marsh, as the opener for LSG, has pulled the hard yards for the team across the four matches. With Pant coming up with underwhelming turn-ups, Marsh's stand at the top does the heavy lifting in the run-scoring department for Lucknow. In the last fixture, the LSG vs MI match at home, Marsh came up with a sublime 60 off 31 knock to give an ideal start to his team along with his opening partner Aiden Markram. Marsh noted a golden duck in the LSG vs PBKS match. However, barring that falter, the batter has smashed three half-centuries in four matches. Currently sitting among the top run scorers of the season so far, Marsh has smashed 184 runs at an average of 46.00 and a strike rate of 185.5.

Nicholas Pooran

The Orange Cap holder currently in IPL 2025, Pooran, as the No.3 batter for LSG, has been the best performer for the team in the season this far. Earning a promotion in the batting order under the leadership of Rishabh Pant, Pooran has made the best of his opportunity at the top order. In four matches, Pooran has scored 201 runs at an average of 50.25 while simultaneously managing a blazing strike rate of 218.47. With two knocks past the 70-run mark, Pooran's only disappointment came against MI, where the batter departed at 12 off 6 against MI skipper Hardik Pandya.

Shardul Thakur

The seam all-rounder has not let LSG fret over the unavailability of their main picks for the season. Coming in as a replacement for injured Mohsin Khan, Shardul has marked the stage as his own. The seamer's campaign started with a twin strike in his first over of the opening spell against Delhi Capitals. Since then, Thakur has scalped 7 wickets across the four matches at an economy of 10.15. In the LSG vs SRH match, the pacer picked a four-fer as he dismissed Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan in the powerplay itself.