Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar won the toss and opted to bowl first against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium in a crucial IPL 2026 clash on Thursday, May 7.

RCB have decided to stick with the same playing XI and entered the contest without any surprise changes following their strong run of form in recent matches.

Lucknow, however, have been forced into three changes for the crucial clash. Arshin Kulkarni comes into the playing XI in place of injured Josh Inglis, while Mayank Yadav replaces Mohsin Khan, who misses out due to a niggle. Shahbaz Ahmed also returns to the side

Another defeat for LSG would officially eliminate them from the IPL 2026 playoff race, making this a must-win encounter for the home side. Meanwhile, Bengaluru will be aiming to further strengthen their position in the top four with another important victory.

Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Arshin Kulkarni, Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Akshat Raghuwanshi, Himmat Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Digvesh Rathi, Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav

Impact Subs: Mayank Yadav, Mukul Choudhary, Abdul Samad, Manimaran Siddharth, Avesh Khan

LSG vs RCB: Captains at the toss

Rishabh Pant admitted that LSG are trying to make changes at an important stage of the tournament and stressed that experimenting is necessary considering their current situation in IPL 2026.

“Having a stable environment in T20 cricket is essential, but at the same time, when the changes are needed, you should be able to change something, because every time, doing the same thing might not give you the same outcome. So trying sometimes, especially where we stand now, trying is not a bad option for sure,” Pant said.

Meanwhile, Rajat Patidar said RCB are focused on restricting LSG to a low total and also highlighted how the short break helped the squad mentally and physically.

“We'll try to restrict them to as low a score as possible. It was a good break I would say. And everyone is looking in good frame of mind. And we came together after six or seven days of pretty hard work plus a couple of weeks,” Patidar said.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam Dar

Impact subs: Jordan Cox, Tim David, Mangesh Yadav, Vicky Ostwal, Venkatesh Iyer

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