After a disheartening loss to the Delhi Capitals in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 opener, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have received a positive update. Their injured pacer, Avesh Khan, has received fitness clearance from the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Center of Excellence (formerly National Cricket Academy), according to ESPNcricinfo.
LSG get Avesh Khan boost
Avesh experienced discomfort in his right knee after playing against Kerala in the second leg of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season. He has been at the BCCI Center of Excellence (CoE) since early January. After nearly two months of rehabilitation, the CoE cleared Avesh on Monday (March 24).
Currently in Vishakhapatnam, LSG is set to travel to Hyderabad for their second IPL 2025 match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on March 27. It’s uncertain right now whether Avesh will link up with the LSG squad or directly join the team in Hyderabad.
However, he is expected to be available for selection for the SRH vs. LSG match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. It was earlier reported that Avesh could miss three matches but that doesn’t seem to the case anymore.
Injury woes for Rishabh Pant & Co.
Avesh was just one of four injured pacers for LSG. Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, and Akash Deep were also at the BCCI CoE with Avesh. Mohsin has already been ruled out of the IPL 2025, with Shardul Thakur being named his replacement. Akash Deep is close to 90% fitness according to LSG head Justin Langer.
As for Mayank, he had injured his toe, which has elongated his rehabilitation. The express pacer had suffered a back injury in October last year and was expected to be fit for IPL 2025. But an unexpected injury has kept him out. Mayank is expected to miss the first seven group-stage matches.
