Rishabh Pant-Led Lucknow Super Giants Suffer Blow Even Before IPL 2025. Reason Is Australia Star

Australia's T20I captain Mitchell Marsh has been cleared to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season for his new team, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), as a batter-only. Despite missing the Champions Trophy due to a back injury, he is set to travel early next week. Marsh was ruled out of the ODI tour of Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy on January 31 due to "lower back pain and dysfunction", ending his domestic season. The issue, linked to a disc problem he had managed since Australia's limited-overs tour of the UK in September 2024, saw him undergo rest and specialist treatment in early February.

Having returned to batting in recent weeks, Marsh has now been cleared for the IPL, where he is expected to be an impact player at the top of the order for LSG. He was signed for Rs 3.40 crore at IPL auction last November and will join the squad on March 18, reuniting with former Australia coach Justin Langer, who is in his second season as LSG's head coach.

Marsh has not played since January 7, when he featured in a BBL match for the Perth Scorchers before sitting out the rest of the season. His last white-ball games came during Australia's T20I and ODI tour of the UK in September.

Over the past three IPL seasons, he played for Delhi Capitals but struggled with injuries, including a hamstring issue last year that sidelined him after just four matches. He has previously represented Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rising Pune Supergiants, Pune Warriors, and Deccan Chargers.

Meanwhile, Marsh's Australia teammates Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood - who also missed the Champions Trophy due to injuries - are expected to be fit for the IPL.

Cummins, who experienced an ankle flare-up after the Border-Gavaskar series, is set