IPL 2025: LSG stare at pace crisis with multiple injuries; Shardul Thakur, Shivam Mavi waiting in the wings | Cricket News – The Times of India

Lucknow Super Giants‘ (LSG) first game of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season is less than a week away and the side is sweating over fitness of its fast bowlers Akash Deep, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan and Mayank Yadav.
While Mohsin, who was retained ahead of the auction in November, is with the side, the others are yet to check in.
Pace sensation Mayank, who was also one of LSG’s retentions, is undergoing rehabilitation at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Centre of Excellence (CoE) and Akash Deep too is camped at the Bengaluru facility.

Mayank has started bowling, not full tilt yet, but Akash Deep, who picked up a back issue during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, is unlikely to get the all-clear anytime soon and could well miss the first few games of the season. As far as Avesh is concerned, he has regained fitness but hasn’t joined the squad yet.

Mohsin picked up a calf niggle when he bowled a few days back and the LSG thinktank need to take tough calls before the season begins under Rishabh Pant‘s captaincy. The decisions are likely to be taken in the next few days and two backup options in Shardul Thakur and Shivam Mavi are already with the side and have been active in the practice sessions and match simulations.

Both Thakur and Mavi went unsold at the mega auction but could end up with a contract considering the current pace situation in the LSG camp.
LSG went for a India-heavy pace attack at the auction and Shamar Joseph is the only overseas seamer in the ranks. The only other overseas seam-bowling option was Mitchell Marsh but he, too, is now unlikely to roll his arm over in the cash-rich league. This leaves LSG in a very tricky situation as they can’t afford to get this crucial piece of the puzzle wrong.

The coaching team, led by Zaheer Khan, would have now seen enough of Thakur and Mavi to take a call on a replacement but it remains to be seen whether they are willing to risk with players returning from long injury lay-offs.
Both Thakur and Mavi played a lot of domestic cricket for their respective states and have IPL experience under their belt.
Thakur is equally capable of making a handy contribution with the bat and Mavi, too, can send the ball a long way with his hitting lower down the order.
Will the management take the big risk of persisting with undercooked and injury prone seamers or hand contracts to Thakur and Mavi? The big call is expected very soon!