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The Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow is buzzing with anticipation as Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) host Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 30th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. However, the team sheets revealed a couple of significant omissions for the five-time champions, CSK, with key players Devon Conway and Ravichandran Ashwin missing from the playing XI.
Reason behind Devon Conway and Ravichandran’s absence in CSK’s playing XI
MS Dhoni, CSK’s captain, confirmed at the toss that both Conway and Ashwin have not been included in the playing XI for today’s match. Speaking after winning the toss and electing to bowl first, Dhoni stated, “We want to bowl first, there’s chances of dew here. The wicket gets better in the second innings. It’s important to set the right temperament. We haven’t been consistent with our batting. With the ball we have strong back strong. It’s important to have a positive mindset, play those big shots. It’s a matter of time. We have a couple of changes. Overton and Rasheed come in for Ashwin and Conway.”
Both Conway and Ashwin have been dropped from the team due to their inconsistent form in the IPL 2025 season. Conway has scored 94 runs in 3 matches at an ordinary strike rate of 127.03, while Ashwin has taken just 5 wickets in 6 games at a poor economy of 9.90.
Meanwhile, LSG captain Rishabh Pant revealed that he would have also opted to bowl first had he won the toss, echoing Dhoni’s sentiments about the Lucknow pitch. “We would have bowled first. In Lucknow it’s slower in the first innings, gets better gradually. The only thing we talked about CSK is that we don’t want to give them an opening, just need to give our 100%. We want to go out there and play good cricket.”
LSG have made just one change to their lineup, bringing back Mitchell Marsh in place of Himmat Singh.
Also READ: IPL 2025 – CSK names 17-year-old Mumbai batter as Ruturaj Gaikwad’s replacement
LSG vs CSK: Playing XI and Impact subs for both teams
Lucknow Super Giants
Playing XI: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), David Miller, Abdul Samad, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Akash Deep, Digvesh Singh Rathi
Impact Subs: Ravi Bishnoi, Prince Yadav, Shahbaz Ahmed, Matthew Breetzke, Himmat Singh
Chennai Super Kings
Playing XI: Shaik Rasheed, Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, Jamie Overton, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Anshul Kamboj, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana
Impact Subs: Shivam Dube, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Sam Curran, Deepak Hooda
