Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) brought in opener Arshin Kulkarni in place of Josh Inglis for their IPL 2026 match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Thursday, May 8.
Who is Arshin Kulkarni, the LSG opener playing his first game of IPL 2026 against RCB?
Kulkarni is not new to IPL cricket, having made his debut in the tournament in 2024 for LSG. The franchise had signed him for INR 20 lakh ahead of the season, but his returns of nine runs in two games saw them release hime, before buying him back for his base price of 30 lakh at the IPL 2025 auction.
The 21-year-old didn’t get an opportunity to add to his two IPL appearances last year, but he was called upon to replace Inglis against RCB. The Australia wicketkeeper-batter injured his hand in his first game of the season against Mumbai Indians on Monday, May 4.
The opening batter, who also bowls medium pace, was part of the India side at 2024 Under-19 World Cup, where he scored 189 runs in seven matches at 27, including a top score of 108 against the United States. He also picked up four wickets in the tournament at 16.75 each.
Match 50, Lucknow Super Giants vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
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Kulkarni plays domestic cricket for Maharashtra and made his T20 debut at the 2023 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, scoring 121 runs in six matches at a strike-rate of 163.51 to finish as the side’s second-highest run-scorer that season, only behind Ruturaj Gaikwad. He has since gone on to play a total of 21 T20s, scoring 549 runs at a strike-rate of almost 140 and a top score of 89*. He has also taken 12 wickets in the format. In the 2025 SMAT, he was Maharashtra's top scorer with 225 runs at a strike-rate of 129.31.
Kulkarni also has solid List A numbers. Having made his 50-over debut in 2025, the opener has gone on to score 484 runs in nine matches at 53.77, including two hundreds and two fifties. His top score 114 came against a star-studded Mumbai side in January this year. He also has 11 first-class games under his belt, where has scored 605 runs at 37.81, with a hundred and four fifties.
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