LUCKNOW, May 14 -- In a major blow to Rishabh Pant-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), their star opener Mitchell Marsh is unlikely to join the team back for the remainder of the Indian Premier League, which is due to resume on Saturday, with the match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Bengaluru. As Australia are set to begin preparations for the World Test Championship final against South Africa, starting on June 11, the Australians are unlikely to be available for the remaining IPL-2025 matches. In a post on X, the Cricket Australia stated on Tuesday: "Cricket Australia will support players in their individual decisions whether to return to India or not. Team management will work through preparation implications for the World Test Championship Final for those players who choose to play in the remaining IPL matches." However, LSG, who have only 10 points in 11 matches so far, will play their remaining two matches here in Lucknow against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on May 19, and against RCB on May 27. Even if LSG win both the matches, it appears to be a difficult proposition for the side to make the playoffs. "We aren't forcing any of our overseas players to join back. It's up to the individuals and their respective boards to decide about their participation," an LSG official said on the condition of anonymity on Tuesday. The likely absence of Australian all-rounder Marsh in the remaining two matches is a big blow for the LSG as he is on the second spot with 378 runs, with 81 being his highest at a strike rate of 155.55 in 10 matches. Nichola Pooran from the West Indies tops the list of LSG batters with 410 runs at a strike rate of 200.98. "We will surely miss Marsh a lot as he has been one of the key batting mainstays of the side," an LSG insider said. He also said that LSG's assistant coach Lance Klusener and top-order batter Matthew Breetzke were supposed to reach Lucknow this evening. However, Marsh's absence will allow someone new to come up the batting order, and it's also the time for skipper Pant to showcase his ability as he has been struggling with the willow so far, having scored just 128 runs in 10 matches at an average of 12.80. The Cricket Australia's announcement on Tuesday is also expected to have an impact on other teams such as SRH (Australia's Test captain Pat Cummins and star batter Travis Head), RCB (pacer Josh Hazlewood), and DC (Mitchell Starc). Other Australian players involved in the IPL-2025 include Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis and Aaron Hardie (Punjab Kings), Nathan Ellis (Chennai Super Kings), and Xavier Bartlett (KKR), while several Australians like former captain Ricky Ponting (Punjab Kings) and Justin Langer (LSG) are part of the coaching staff. It is learnt that all the Australian players boarded the flights out of India on Saturday immediately after the BCCI suspended IPL-2025 following the abandonment of the match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in Dharamshala amid missile and drone attacks by Pakistan in cities across the northern and western border....