West Indian star Opener to open with KL Rahul in De Kock's absence for first few games in IPL 2023: Reports

We are just a few days away from the start of the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League, which will get underway on March 31 with a game between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

It will be a challenging season for some teams, as some of them are suffering from injuries to their key players, while other teams will miss some key players due to their national duties. Lucknow Super Giants will be one of those teams that will be without star opener Quinton De Kock for the first week of the season.

De Kock is on national duty and will join the team after the first two games. He is part of the South African squad for two ODIs against Netherlands between March 31 and April 2. Thus, it has left LSG with a big role to fill at the top.

However, some reports claim that LSG is looking to give a chance to either West Indian opener Kyle Mayers or Indian all-rounder Deepak Hooda to open with skipper KL Rahul. LSG will start their campaign against Delhi Capitals on April 1.

A source confirmed to PTI, "In case of De Kock, the best option is Kyle Mayers, who is also a left-hander and has a decent strike rate of close to 135 in T20Is. On Sunday, he was brilliant against South Africa during his 27-ball-51. So Mayers is favourite to partner Rahul in first two games."

However, LSG can also boost up their bowling department by including an overseas bowler in place of De Kock, and Hooda can open the inning for them. Because Mohsin Khan, who was the pick of the bowler for LSG last season will miss the first half as he hasn't completely recovered from his injury. LSG might look to replace him with veteran Indian pacer Jaydev Unadkat.