Sai Kishore cricketer stats: Why is Lockie Ferguson not playing today’s IPL 2022 match between Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans?

Why Lockie Ferguson not playing today: Gujarat Titans have made as many as three tactical changes at the MCA Stadium tonight.

During the 57th match of the ongoing 15th season of the Indian Premier League between Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans in Pune, Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya has won the toss and chose to bat.

“We will bat first. Want to put up some runs, the wicket looks alright for the entire duration of the game. The wicket has played some role, batting first here – teams have won plenty of games,” Pandya told Star Sports at the toss.

Looking to bowl first tonight, Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul got he was looking for at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium. Readers must note that table-toppers in LSG ans GT are yet to lose a match at this venue.

“We would have wanted to bowl first. Not sure about how this wicket will play, so want to give our bowlers the best shot at using it first. We are playing a top team, a competitive unit, so we’ll have to hold our pressure, assess the conditions quickly and get our tactics and strategies right,” Rahul told Star Sports at the toss.

Why is Lockie Ferguson not playing vs LSG today?

Coming on the back of back-to-back losses, Titans have made as many as three changes to their Playing XI for this match. Batter Sai Sudharsan and fast bowlers Pradeep Sangwan and Lockie Ferguson have been left out for wicket-keeper batter Matthew Wade, spinner R Sai Kishore and pacer Yash Dayal.

All that Pandya mentioned about the changes were all of them being “tactical” ones. The most surprising of them all is Ferguson being benched after picking 12 wickets at an average of 32, an economy rate of 8.93 and a strike rate of 21.5.

While Wade and Dayal have played five and four IPL 2022 matches respectively previously, Sai Kishore has finally been handed an IPL debut after spending multiple seasons warming the bench at Chennai Super Kings.

Sai Kishore, 25, had registered himself for IPL 2022 mega auction in the minimum price category of INR 20 lakh. Despite facing stiff competition from Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals, Super Kings, Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the auction table, Titans managed to emerge as the winner by buying the left-arm spinner for INR 3 crore.

In 38-match T20 career, Tamil Nadu’s Sai Kishore has picked 43 wickets at an average of 17.39, an economy rate of 5.46 and a strike rate of 19.