Star India medium-pacer Shardul Thakur is set to replace Mohsin Khan at the Lucknow Super Giants, with Mayank Yadav’s chances of featuring in IPL 2025 still hanging in the balance as the youngster recovers from an injury sustained last year during the Bangladesh T20Is. Thakur has been with the team since their preparations for IPL 2025 began and will be replacing the injured Mohsin in the Rishabh Pant-led team. According to The Times of India, Thakur has been informed about the decision and will be travelling with the team to Vishakhapatnam for their season opener against the Delhi Capitals. Mohsin injured his ACL which has kept him out of bowling since December and then suffered a calf strain when he started bowling in the Lucknow nets. With their core group of pacers still recovering at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, the management was forced to take the call on an injury replacement. The India-heavy pace attack features Akash Deep, Avesh Khan and Mayank but all are yet to join the Indian Premier League team. While the former and latter are at the CoE, Avesh still has not linked up with the team after recovering from the knee injury. As far as Mayank is concerned, he has begun bowling at reduced intensity in the nets but is nowhere close to attaining match fitness. From side strain to hamstring to a problem in the left back and now the right back, Mayank’s body has gone through a lot and he is yet to play a competitive game in the last five months. Even if Mayank gets a green signal from the CoE to join Lucknow, it will require a lot from him to play the entire season. “The situation is dynamic for some of our players due to injuries. But it’s time that we look for positives and adopt things to tackle the situation amicably. Some players are at the National Cricket Academy and others are spending time with their physios,” mentor Zaheer Khan had said. In the absence of their core pacers, Thakur will now be leading the group as he is the most experienced bowler in the setup.