LSG vs RCB Injury News: Is Phil Salt Ruled Out of IPL 2026? Who Will Open With Virat Kohli? — Check Predicted Playing XIs of IPL Today Match

LSG vs RCB Injury News: Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are in dire need of a win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. Searching for their third win of the season, LSG hosts Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Ekana Cricket Stadium. Thankfully for the Super Giants, they face RCB, who have had a major injury concern to one of their key players. Phil Salt, their talismanic opening batter along with Virat Kohli, has been sidelined for a few games. Salt, who suffered an injury during the ongoing season, missed three games on the trot. The latest development about his injury is that the right-handed batter has gone back to England for scans on his finger. However, there has been no confirmation on whether Phil Salt has been ruled out of IPL 2026 or not.

LSG vs RCB: Is Phil Salt ruled out of IPL 2026?

Royal Challengers Bengaluru has been tight-lipped over Phil Salt’s injury in the last three games. The defending champions have not given any official confirmation on whether the English batter is ruled out or not. However, a report from ESPNCricInfo states that Salt has gone back to England for scans on his fingers. This development puts his future in the ongoing season in serious doubt. In his absence so far, Jacob Bethell has opened the innings along with Virat Kohli but has failed to leave an impact.

LSG vs RCB: Will Jacob Bethell continue to open with Virat Kohli?

Virat Kohli, despite battling an injury throughout the season, which saw him playing as an impact player for the first time in his career, has been in top form. However, since Phil Salt’s injury, there has been a lot of conjecture about his opening partner. It seemed that the straightforward solution was to have Jacob Bethell fill the vacant spot. But the 22-year-old has found it pretty tough to make an impact in IPL 2026. In three games, Bethell has managed to score only 39 runs, with 20 being his highest score. While he showed great intent, batting at a strike rate of 150 on the 26 balls he has faced, the lack of promising knocks could lead to RCB thinking of a replacement at the top of the order.

LSG vs RCB: Will Rishabh Pant lose captaincy?

Lucknow Super Giants come into this game with some concerns of their own. Skipper Rishabh Pant’s form with the bat in hand has been a point of discussion for a while. Pant hasn’t had the best batting performances since being acquired by the Super Giants for an incredible ₹27 crores prior to the IPL 2025 auction. Pant has only scored 473 runs in 22 innings while playing for LSG, with an average close to 25. During this time, he has had a strike rate of about 130. Given that the scoring rate has been the greatest in the previous two years, it is his scoring rate that has come under scrutiny. It might not be a terrible idea to relieve Rishabh Pant of his captaincy responsibilities and consider potential alternatives, given how his batting results have declined over the past few years.

IPL 2026: Check Out LSG vs RCB Predicted Playing XIs

Lucknow Super Giants Predicted Playing XI: Mitchell Marsh (C), Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant, Aiden Markram, Ayush Badoni, Himmat Singh, Mohammed Shami, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, Prince Yadav; Impact Player: Manimaran Siddharth

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Predicted Playing XI: Virat Kohli, Jacob Bethell/Venkatesh Iyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (C), Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood; Impact Player: Rasikh Salam

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