The focus will be on KL Rahul’s form and fitness when he returns from a quadriceps injury to lead the Lucknow Super Giants in their IPL opener against Rajasthan Royals here on Sunday.

Rahul missed the last four Tests against England due to pain in his right quadriceps. He was out for four months last year after undergoing a thigh surgery.

The Lucknow captain will look to hit top gear not only as a batter, but also as a leader. He guided the team to successive playoffs in the first two seasons.

Rahul is likely to play purely as a batter, at least in the initial phase of IPL, but will eventually have to keep wickets as well if he has to strengthen his chances of making the T20 World Cup squad.

His opposite number on Sunday, Sanju Samson, is also a candidate for the wicketkeepers’ role in the India squad for the ICC event and he too will be keen to find his rhythm right from the start.

Rajasthan had come tantalisingly close to clinching a second title before Gujarat Titans broke their heart in the final in 2022. They looked good in the initial stages even last season but slipped to fifth place in the end.

Both the teams will have some tough calls to make as they figure out their best XI. Rajasthan have a solid batting line-up, with the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler and skipper Samson himself. Jaiswal, especially, has been in red-hot form of late and can be the X-factor for his team.

They also have a finisher in Dhruv Jurel, who made an impressive India debut in the recent five-match Test series against England.

Lucknow, on the other hand, will depend on Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stonis and Nicholas Pooran to do the bulk of the scoring apart from skipper Rahul. It is going to be an interesting battle as Lucknow will have to contend with Rajasthan’s spin wizards Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal.

Lucknow too have a shrewd customer in leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who would be itching to put up a good show to put himself in line for a place in the T20 Cup squad. They also have the 41-year-old veteran leg-break bowler Amit Mishra in their ranks.

But Lucknow’s pace battery wears a dim look, after foreign recruits Mark Wood and David Willey were ruled out. But they do have new pace sensation Shamar Joseph from the Caribbean to give them hope. If he’s finds rhythm, Joseph can be dangerous.