"They might want to buy him back" - Aakash Chopra's huge claim as he picks LSG playing 11 for IPL 2026 ahead of auction

Former cricketer Aakash Chopra made a huge claim while picking the playing 11 for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for IPL 2026 ahead of the auction. LSG released eight players, including trading Shardul Thakur to the Mumbai Indians (MI).

They retained 19 players, including trading in veteran pacer Mohammad Shami from SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Arjun Tendulkar from MI. Lucknow will head into the auction with a purse of ₹22.95 crore. Ahead of the auction, Aakash Chopra picked what could be LSG's probable playing 11. (via Star Sports India Instagram)

Chopra picked Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh as their openers. Markram scored 445 runs last season while Marsh made 627 runs. He kept Nicholas Pooran at three, who made 524 runs last year. Skipper Rishabh Pant followed at number four as the wicketkeeper, with Ayush Badoni at five and Abdul Samad at seven.

He picked Digvesh Rathi at eight, Avesh Khan at nine and Shami at ten with Mayank as the impact player. Aakash stated that all their batters are mostly overseas players. While they have Shahbaz Ahmed and Manimaran Siddharth as spin options, he reckoned that they could look to bring Ravi Bishnoi back, who was released.

"They need one more spinner. You have let go Ravi Bishnoi. Shahbaz and Siddharth are available, but if they can upgrade it, no harm in doing so. The big call they had to make was between Mayank Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi. They are not very happy that they had to let go of Ravi, so they might want to buy him back," he reflected.

Bishnoi has played 77 matches in the IPL so far and has bagged 72 wickets at an average of 31.06 and an economy of 8.21. He was retained for ₹11 crore by LSG for the 2025 season.

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LSG failed to make the playoffs last year

LSG could not qualify for the playoffs last season. They managed to win six out of their 14 matches with eight defeats, gathering 12 points. Their season ended on a poor note with four defeats in their last five games.

They finished seventh on the table at the end of the league stage. Chopra reckoned that they would need an overseas pacer as it was an all-India pace attack last season.

"They have only four overseas players. Makram, Marsh, and Pooran play all the time. Now they need one more overseas player. It is a made-in-India bowling attack. I think you need one overseas pacer because Mayank Yadav's fitness is a question. Mohammad Shami's reputation is brilliant, his pedigree is great, but had a very off IPL last season. He's bowling well, so hopefully he stays," he said.

LSG have six slots remaining going into the 2026 auction. They will have to wisely pick players and build a strong side, having failed to qualify since the 2024 season.