The wait has finally come to an end as LSG face the Capitals in their debut 2026 IPL tournament at their home ground in Ekana. The toss was won by the visiting team, Delhi Capitals and they chose to bowl to the Giants.

In a surprising turn of events, the LSG skipper Rishabh Pant opened the batting for his team along with Mitchell Marsh. The change in the batting position wasn't that surprising as a lot of cricket pundits had already predicted that Rishabh might open the innings as he focuses on becoming a part of the T20 squad for India.

Pant’s decision received a lot of mixed criticism from fans across Twitter.

 

 

 

Some people called a shot on the foot moment as LSG already had a settled opening partnership for them in the form of the Australian player, Mitchel Marsh and South-African player, Aiden Markram.

The battling lineup includes- Rishabh Pant, Mitchel Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni and Shahbaz Ahmed

The management is also being questioned on shaking up the lineup and making things difficult for themselves.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Shami, Mukul Choudhary and the South African player Anrich Nortje, LSG is continuing with Rishabh Pant as their captain and key bowlers like Digvesh Rathi and Avesh Khan have been kept as Impact Subs as the team would bowl their opponents in the second innings.

David Miller debuts for Delhi Capitals

South African finisher David Miller, the Delhi home boy Nitish Rana debut for the Capitals, Sri Lankan player Pathun Nissanka and South African bowler Lungi Ngidi debut for the Delhi Capitals in their clash against the Giants. It is a shocking decision that Delhi did not bring the fiery Auqib Nabi as one of their bowlers for the first match, even after his impressive performance in the domestic tournaments. KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant would once again face their former teams as their debut match in IPL, like last year in 2025 where Rahul was not present as he was awaiting the birth of his child.