Lucknow, Apr 1 (UNI) Punjab Kings won the toss and elected to field against Lucknow Super Giants in the 13th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Monday.

Shreyas Iyer, the captain of Punjab Kings, cited the nature of the red-soil pitch and the possibility of dew as key factors behind his decision to bowl first.

"It's a new ground and a fresh pitch. Dew could play a role, and we want to back our ability to chase. The players have the freedom to express themselves, and the main objective remains winning the game," Iyer said at the toss.

Lucknow skipper Rishabh Pant expressed his preference to bowl first but remained optimistic about setting up a strong total.

"We wanted to bowl first, but there are things beyond our control. We are happy to bat and give our best, especially with so many supporters backing us," Pant remarked. Lucknow have fielded an unchanged XI from their previous match.

The match marks the debut of Lockie Ferguson for Punjab Kings, with the Kiwi pacer receiving his cap from Shreyas Iyer before the game. His express pace is expected to be a key factor in Punjab's bowling strategy.

Playing XIs:

Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (c/wk), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi.

Punjab Kings: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Suryansh Shedge, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh.

Impact Substitutes:

Lucknow Super Giants: Prince Yadav, Manimaran Siddharth, Shahbaz Ahmed, Himmat Singh, Akash Maharaj Singh.

Punjab Kings: Praveen Dubey, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod, Harpreet Brar.

UNI BDN BM