The Lucknow franchise has announced their three retentions ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 player auction. KL Rahul will be leading the Lucknow franchise. The former Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper has been roped in for Rs 17 crore. Their second pick is Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis. The former Delhi Capitals (DC) player will get a fee of Rs 9.2 crore. Lucknow's third pick is India's uncapped leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi who is also an ex-PBKS player.
The Lucknow franchise has spent a total of Rs 30.2 crore for their three retentions. They will be going into the upcoming mega auction on February 12 and 13 with a purse of Rs 59.8 crore.
Rahul captained the Indian side in the Johannesburg Test as Virat Kohli was unfit to play and Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the tour after getting injured. In Rohit’s absence, the Karnataka batter is also leading India in the three-ODI series against the Proteas. Rahul's debut ODI series did not live upto expectations as India have lost the series after losing two consecutive ODIs at the Boland Park, Paarl.
Rahul has been terrific as a batter in the last few IPL seasons but he does not have a great record leading. In 27 matches as PBKS skipper, Rahul has a 44.44 win percentage with 11 wins, 14 losses and two ties to his name. He finished the last season as the leading run-scorer before Chennai Super Kings (CSK) openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis surpassed him in the playoffs.
The 21-year-old leggie has played 23 IPL matches so far and picked 24 wickets at an average of 25.25 and an economy rate of 6.97. Lucknow's overseas pick was not at his best in the previous season but he was instrumental in DC's journey to the final in IPL 2022. Overall, Stoinis has scored 914 runs from 49 innings at an average of 27.7 including four half-centuries. In the bowling department, he has taken 30 wickets.
