Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) made an unexpected call when they went after West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran and picked him for a whopping Rs 16 crore which is Rs 5.25 crore more than last season. They made the call despite Pooran's ordinary run in the previous season.
They got three overseas pacers – Romario Shepherd, Daniel Sams and Naveen-ul-Haq – for their base price. They invested in few lesser-known names as well. Also, they showed faith in 40-year-old leggie Amit Mishra.
LSG, one of the two new entrants added to the Indian Premier League in the 2022 season, were bought for a record sum of Rs 7090 crore by RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, which previously owned the Rising Pune Supergiant franchise in 2016 and 2017. Andy Flower was appointed head coach and Gautam Gambhir mentor.
In their maiden season, LSG were clear about what they wanted from their squad. Gambhir executed his plans at the mega auction perfectly and picked up utility players. Their squad looked well-balanced as well. As expected they started off well and despite a few losses at the backend, finished third on the points table with nine wins from 14 games. However, they faltered against Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the second qualifier.
Rahul led from the front with impressive performances with the bat whereas there were a few revelations in the likes of left-arm pacer Mohsin Khan and middle-order batter Ayush Badoni.
Players picked in the Auction:
Nicholas Pooran: Rs 16 crores
Jaydev Unadkat: Rs 50 lakh
Yash Thakur: Rs 45 lakh
Romario Shepherd: Rs 75 Lakh
Daniel Sams: Rs 50 Lakh
Amit Mishra: Rs 50 Lakh
Prerak Mankad: Rs 20 Lakh
Swapnil Singh: Rs 20 Lakh
Naveeen Ul Haq: Rs 50 Lakh
LSG Captain: KL Rahul
Coach: Andy Flower
Home ground: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
IPL titles: 0
LSG Owner: Sanjiv Goenka
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Retained Gujarat players:
Avesh Khan, Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, K. Gowtham, Karan Sharma, KL Rahul, Krunal Pandya, Kyle Mayers*, Manan Vohra, Marcus Stoinis*, Mark Wood*, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Quinton De Kock*, Ravi Bishnoi
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Released Gujarat players:
Andrew Tye*, Ankit Singh Rajpoot, Dushmanta Chameera*, Evin Lewis*, Jason Holder*, Manish Pandey, Shahbaz Nadeem
