“They could be the Fab 4”

Former Indian pacer Aakash Chopra has picked the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) standings as one of their strengths ahead of IPL 2026. He pointed out that Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran and Rishabh Pant could be the most exciting top four in the upcoming edition of the prestigious league.

LSG failed to make the IPL 2025 playoffs, finishing seventh on the points table. While Marsh, Markram and Pooran were in excellent form last season, Pant was not at his best before finishing the tournament with an unbeaten 118 in the final league match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra’, the former India opener pointed out that LSG will likely have the most devastating top four in IPL 2026.

“The firepower, the top four, Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran and Rishabh Pant, if all four stay in form, they could actually become the most exciting top four in this tournament. They could be the great four because everyone is strong.”

Chopra highlighted that Marsh, Markram and Pooran were in scoring form in IPL 2025, with Pant also finding his form in the final.

“Mitchell Marsh is in great form, Aiden Markram looks like he won’t be out at all, Nicholas Pooran keeps hitting sixes, and before leaving, we also saw Rishabh Pant’s volatility. He’s got a century off his bat. They’ve become the first team to have three overseas players score more than 400 runs in a season. So that’s their biggest strength. Their top four are fantastic.”

Mitchell Marsh (627), Nicholas Pooran (524) and Aiden Markram (445) were among the top three bowlers for LSG in IPL 2025. Rishabh Pant amassed 269 runs at a strike rate of 133.16 in 13 innings last season.

“There are some serious fast bowling resources available with them” – Aakash Chopra on LSG’s other strengths heading into IPL 2026

In the same video, Aakash Chopra picked out Lucknow Super Giants’ seam bowling resources as one of their other strengths ahead of IPL 2026.

“They have a lot of fast bowling resources. They have Akash Singh, who is brilliant, Avesh Khan, who is a very good bowler again, Mohammed Shami, Mohsin Khan, Anrich Nortje, Prince Yadav, Arjun Tendulkar, Mayank Yadav. There are some serious fast bowling resources available to them.”

While LSG’s bowling coach Bharat Arun was expected to get the best out of the seamers, the cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that the franchise has diversity in the bowling department.

“If we look at it from that point of view, the fast bowling reserves look very promising. Bharath Aaron is also there now. I expect him to make this bowling unit a little better. I see diversity when I look at the spinners,” Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra wondered if Gudakesh Moti could replace Wanendu Hasaranga, if the latter is ruled out of IPL 2026, highlighting that the Caribbean player has opted out of his contract with the PSL (Pakistan Super League). While he opined that Adil Rashid could have been considered as a replacement for Hasaranaga, the analyst pointed out that the English player has not even put his name in the IPL 2026 auction.