NEW DELHI: Fans were taken aback when wicketkeeper batter
Nicholas Pooran
, instead of the regular Lucknow Super Giants captain
KL Rahul
, walked to the middle for the toss against Punjab Kings at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Saturday.
After Pooran won the toss and elected to bat first against Punjab Kings, the stand-in skipper explained the reason behind KL Rahul not leading the side against Punjab Kings.
"KL Rahul is playing as an impact player. He has an injury and we're looking to give him a break in such a long tournament, but he'll play as an impact substitute. Everyone must take the opportunities and perform at their best," said Pooran at the toss.
LSG have also handed out debuts for Mayank Yadav and Manimaran Siddarth.
On the other hand, Punjab Kings named an unchanged side.
Playing XI:
Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock, Devdutt Padikkal, KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, M Siddharth.
Punjab Kings XI: Shikhar Dhawan (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
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