The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction that will take place on December 16 and the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will be taking this opportunity to fill a very significant gap in their team. The vacancy created by the loss of the excellent opening pair of batters Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh is one they wish to fill with a backup who can step in when required. In this position, a couple of players are being speculated to be among the targets of LSG.
Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram: Key Performers for LSG Last Season
The Australian duo of Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram, batting at the top order for LSG, turned out to be the mainstay of the batting line-up and hence were the major reasons behind their team’s good performance together with the rest of the Indian domestic players. The Australian batter in Marsh amassed 627 runs at an average of 48.23 with a strike rate of 163.70 while also registering a ton and half centuries. Not only did Marsh finish as one of the top five run-getters but also contributed largely to his team’s cause finishing as the leading run scorer.
From the south, Aiden Markram also put up quite a performance scoring 445 runs in 13 innings at an average of 34.23 and a strike rate of 148.82 with five fifties to his account. It was Markram’s peak IPL season as he scored most runs in a tournament ever, hence he was also the player to watch at that time.
Because of some players are doing extremely well in the domestic circuit, especially Markram, who missed one game against RCB due to national duty, one position LSG is likely to strengthen is the backup position of the opening pair. So in that situation of internationals occurring simultaneously, the franchise will keep their LSG target player list up to date with proper backups.
There are a few outstanding top-order batsmen who could be considered by the LSG side. Among them is the trending name coming out of the Tamil Nadu team who is none other than Tushar Raheja.
What makes Tushar Raheja a great backup to consider for LSG?
Tushar Raheja impressed everyone in the Tamil Nadu Premier League 2025 with his outstanding performance. He emerged as the tournament’s top run scorer. The 24-year-old player made a total of 488 runs in nine games with an average of 61.00 and a scintillating strike rate of 185.55, also with five half-centuries. Due to this great performance, he got the opportunity to represent Tamil Nadu in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26. Till now, he has played five matches and scored 123 runs.
For quite some time, Tushar has been giving good performances in the first-order batting.
He was the second-highest run scorer in the 2024 TNPL season with 324 runs scored at an average of 36.00 and a strike rate of 150.00. He could be the best domestic player who can be considered as a backup in the auction for the LSG targets. Just like Marsh and Markram, his strike rate is also nice and he does not waste his starts. Thus, he is one of the names that can be included in the LSG target players list.
