Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 23 (ANI): Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have suffered a setback ahead of their final league match as Australian star Mitchell Marsh has been ruled out for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 clash against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Saturday evening.

According to ESPNcricinfo, Marsh, one of only two batters to score multiple centuries this season, is unavailable for the fixture. However, the reason behind his absence is yet to be confirmed.

Marsh has stood out as one of the few positives in an otherwise underwhelming campaign for the Super Giants, who have once again fallen short of a playoff berth.

The Australian all-rounder leads the franchise's batting charts this season with 563 runs from 13 innings, which includes two centuries and three fifties. In contrast, skipper Rishabh Pant is the next best contributor with 286 runs from 12 innings--almost half of Marsh's total.

Although there has been no official confirmation regarding Marsh's unavailability, the 34-year-old is expected to lead Australia in a three-match ODI series against Pakistan starting May 30 in Rawalpindi. A win for Lucknow would allow them to finish their IPL 2026 season on a positive note, while a loss for PBKS would eliminate them from the playoff race.

However, even a victory for Shreyas Iyer-led PBKS may not be enough to secure qualification, with Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals still in contention for the remaining spots.

Squads: Lucknow Super Giants Squad: Mitchell Marsh, Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Akash Maharaj Singh, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Mukul Choudhary, Manimaran Siddharth, Himmat Singh, Arshin Kulkarni, Mohammed Shami, Aiden Markram, George Linde, Anrich Nortje, Matthew Breetzke, Arjun Tendulkar, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Naman Tiwari, Avesh Khan. Punjab Kings Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Suryansh Shedge, Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Musheer Khan, Praveen Dubey, Ben Dwarshuis, Marco Jansen, Mitchell Owen, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur, Nehal Wadhera, Harnoor Singh, Pyla Avinash, Vishal Nishad. (ANI)