IPL 2025: Shardul Thakur joins injury-hit Lucknow Super Giants squad as replacement for Mohsin Khan

Shardul Thakur will be getting a slice of the action in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) despite going unsold in the mega auction in November with Lucknow Super Giants including the seam-bowling all-rounder to their squad following an injury to pacer Mohsin Khan. Thakur currently is with the LSG squad in Visakhapatnam, where they face skipper Rishabh Pant’s former franchise Delhi Capitals at the ACA-VDCA Stadium on Monday.

An official statement from the IPL confirmed LSG picking Thakur from the ‘Registered Available Player Pool’ at his reserve price of Rs 2 crore. Lucknow Super Giants will be Thakur’s sixth IPL franchise, with the all-rounder having previously represented Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings as well Rising Pune Supergiant.

Headlines don’t matter, The Lord does 🫶

Shardul is home 💙 pic.twitter.com/nd6ouD3otX

— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) March 23, 2025

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Mohsin has been ruled out of the 18th IPL season due to an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tear that he had suffered while representing Uttar Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in December. The left-arm quick, who has collected 27 wickets for LSG in the last three seasons, was part of LSG’s camp in Lucknow but did not travel with the squad to Visakhapatnam.

Thakur, who has collected 67 wickets from 94 appearances in the IPL since making his debut in 2015, had also signed with Essex as an overseas cricketer recently. The 33-year-old, however, had already made it clear to the English county that he would be prioritising the IPL in case he was picked up as a replacement player.

The Super Giants are staring at a crisis of sorts as far as their pace department is concerned. Express pacer Mayank Yadav, who had hit speeds in the high 150s last season , is currently undergoing rehabilitation at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru due to a lumbar stress injury is set to miss the first half of the season. And joining him at the CoE are Avesh Khan and Akash Deep, also key pace options for the franchise.

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Though not officially part of the squad just yet, pacer Shivam Mavi – who had also gone unsold in the mega auction after getting released by LSG – has also been training with the squad since their preparatory camp in Lucknow and could end up getting picked as a replacement player if Mayank, Avesh or Akash join Mohsin in getting ruled out of the season.