Is Shardul Thakur playing today's LSG vs SRH IPL 2025 match?

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) all-rounder Shardul Thakur is not a part of the playing XI for their IPL 2025 clash against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). The two teams are playing at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Monday, May 19.

SRH won the toss and opted to bowl first. At the toss, LSG skipper Rishabh Pant mentioned that the team has only one change with pacer William O'Rourke set to make his IPL debut.

However, Shardul Thakur is likely to play today's IPL 2025 match against SRH. The all-rounder, though not in the playing XI, has been named among LSG's five impact substitutes for this match.

This is a crucial fixture for LSG as they have five wins from 11 games and with ten points are placed seventh. They need to win all of their three matches to get to 16 points and have an outside chance of qualifying for the playoffs with just one spot left.

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Shardul Thakur's IPL 2025 season so far

Shardul Thakur was initially unsold during the IPL 2025 mega auction. However, LSG were dented with multiple injuries ahead of the season. Therefore, they roped in all-rounder Shardul Thakur as a replacement signing just before the start of the tournament.

He had a brilliant all-round outing in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy for Mumbai, leading to his selection based on form. So far in this IPL 2025 season, Shardul is LSG'S joint-highest wicket-taker.

He has picked up 12 wickets from nine matches at an average of 28 and an economy rate of 11.20 with a strike-rate of 15. Shardul has not had many opportunties with the bat, playing just four innings and scoring 14 runs.

The experienced all-rounder has played an important role for them so far and will want to contribute in whatever opportunity he gets as they fight for a spot in the playoffs.