Is Shardul Thakur playing today's DC vs LSG IPL 2025 match?

Shardul Thakur will lead the pace bowling attack of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their opening clash of IPL 2025 against the Delhi Capitals (DC) on Monday, March 24. The game is currently underway at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.

Thakur bagged only five wickets in nine games in the 2024 season for the Chennai Super Kings. As a result, he was released ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. The mega auction saw Thakur going unsold, as he found no takers for his base price of ₹2 crore.

However, Shardul Thakur joined LSG as an injury replacement for Mohsin Khan, who is still recovering from an ACL tear. Interestingly, the bowling all-rounder had signed a County contract with Essex and was expected to feature for them from April. However, he had intimated to Essex that he would prioritize an IPL opportunity over the County stint.

Check out LSG's XI for their clash against DC:

Shardul Thakur will play a key role for LSG in the absence of pacers Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan, and Akash Deep. Although none of them are ruled out of the season, they will not be in contention for the first few games.

Prince Yadav is the other pacer along with Thakur in the XI, while Digvesh Rathi, Shahbaz Ahmed, and Ravi Bishnoi form the spin attack.

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How did Shardul Thakur perform in 2024-25 domestic season?

Shardul Thakur represented Mumbai across all three formats in the 2024-25 domestic season. The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy witnessed him picking up 15 wickets in nine games at an economy of 10.51. His contribution played a key role in the side's title victory.

In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Thakur was again impressive with 10 scalps and 132 runs in seven appearances. He produced his best performance against Nagaland, finishing with figures of 3/17 and a knock of 73* off 28 balls.

Shardul Thakur shone brightly in the Ranji Trophy, picking up 35 wickets and scoring 505 runs. Notably, he picked up a hattrick as well during the league stage clash against Meghalaya.