Lucknow will face the Delhi Capitals for their first-ever 2026 IPL match in their home ground at Ekana Stadium. Ahead of the match, the LSG social media posted a clip of their young buy, Arshin Kulkarni, who hit 99 runs in 55 balls, making him a strong competitor for the opening position in the squad. Kulkarni has been with the Lucknow team since 2024, but has had only two chances, during which he was unable to prove himself.
He scored 225 runs in 7 innings in SMAT 2025 at an average of 129.31. He also had a great season in the Maharashtra Premier League, scoring 229 runs in 9 innings at a strike rate of 125.68. His most talked-about knock came when he scored a winning knock of 77 runs for his team and led them to the title of the MPL.
Will Kulkarni get a chase to play this season?
Kulkarni will, however, have a hard time replacing either Marsh or Markram, both of whom had a great opening partnership for LSG last year. Marsh also became the highest run scorer for the team as he scored 625 runs in 14 innings, making him a value buy at 3.40 crore.
LSG can play Kulkarni only if they plan to play the South African player, Anrich Nortje, as their bowler, and one of either Marsh or Markram will have to sit out of the playing XI then.
