For the first time since the 2011 IPL season, fans are getting two new IPL team franchises: Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Gujarat Titans (GT). Lucknow Super Giants is named after the capital city of Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow Super Giants is the only franchise in this mega auction to spend 100% of their purse, INR 90 Cr. And this amount got them 21 players in total. Some say Lucknow Super Giants is the most balanced out of all 10 IPL 2022 teams, while some say that KL Rahul took many players from his previous squad Punjab Kings. Let's see how this team can do, what should be an ideal 11, and most importantly, can Lucknow Super Giants win the IPL 2022 title?
Both the new teams were given chances to pick three players before the mega auction. This is because all the other 8 teams were allowed to retain up to 4 players, and to make things even for the two new teams, management decided to give them a slight advantage. KL Rahul (17 Cr) opted out of Punjab Kings(PBKS), and he was offered to join LSG with a captainship role. The second player was Marcus Stoinis(9.2 Cr), an Aussie all-rounder, and the last player was young Indian leggie Ravi Bishnoi (4 Cr) (also from PBKS). These 3 players cost LSG a total of 30.2 Cr.
These three players will be playing maximum matches throughout the tournament:
Player | Role | Price | IPL 2021 Performance | T20 Performance in 2021 |
KL Rahul | Right-hand batsman + WK | 17 Cr | 13M, 626 runs, 62.60 avg, 138.80 SR | 24M, 915 runs, 45.75 avg, 136.16 SR |
Marcus Stoinis | Right-hand batsman AR | 9.2 Cr | 10M, 89 runs + 2W | 36M, 678 runs + 5W |
Ravi Bishnoi | Right-arm leg-spin bowler | 4 Cr | 9M, 12W, 6.39 economy | 22M, 31W, 6.22 economy |
- KL Rahul will be keeping the wickets, or Quinten de Kock can take the gloves if the skipper asks him to. We have seen KL the Keeper and KL the fielder in the last season, and we can see the same this season. Without any questions, KL will bat at the opening position. Other good hitters can accompany him, but Qdk is the most logical choice as an opening partner. LSG has QdK, E Lewis and K Mayers, and M Stoinis as an opening batsman option.
- Stoinis doesn't bowl much nowadays, but he is pretty handy as an opening batsman. He bats at the top in the BBL. If he catches good for in the beginning, he is likely to play all the matches. Otherwise, K Mayers is expected to take his place.
- Ravi Bishnoi impressed fans with his wrist-spin capabilities and earned a call for the national team. His ability to control the pace and quick googlies will be critical for the LSG bowling attack. He has an economy rate of just 6.22 in the T20s he played last year! That is comparable to T20 greats like Rashid Khan! And he is an ex-PBKS player, played under KL and KL knows how to use him. That is a good point.
List of Indian players LSG bought from the mega auction:
Player | Role | Price | IPL 2021 Performance | SMAT 2021 Performance |
Manish Pandey | Right-hand batsman | 4.6 Cr | 8M, 292 runs, 48.67 avg, 123.73 SR | 9M, 272 runs, 30.22 avg, 107.09 SR |
Manan Vohra | Right-hand batsman | 20 L | 4M, 42 runs, 10.50 avg, 107.69 SR | 9M, 427 runs, 53.38 avg, 140.46 SR |
Krishnappa Gowtham | Right-arm off-break All-rounder | 90 L | 2M, 42 runs + 1W | 9M, 47 runs + 11W |
Krunal Pandya | Left-arm Orthodox All-rounder | 8.2 Cr | 13M, 143 runs + 5W | 8M, 160 runs + 10W |
Deepak Hooda | Batting All-rounder | 5.75 Cr | 12M, 160 runs + 2W | 6M, 294 runs, 73.50 avg, 168.00 SR |
Karan Sharma | All-rounder | 20 L | – | – |
Ayush Badoni | All-rounder | 20 L | – | – |
Avesh Khan | Right-arm fast bowler | 10 Cr | 16M, 24W, 7.38 economy | 10M, 23W, 6.76 economy |
Ankit Rajpoot | Right-arm fast bowler | 50 L | 6M, 2W, 11.71 economy | 8M, 6W, 7.78 economy |
Mohsin Khan | Left-arm fast bowler | 20 L | – | – |
Mayank Yadav | Right-arm fast bowler | 20 L | – | – |
Shahbaz Nadeem | Left-arm Orthodox Spin Bowler | 50 L | 1M, 1W, 9.00 economy | 10M, 5W, 6.62 economy |
- Of these 12 Indian players, 4 are most likely to play in the 11. Those players are M Pandey, D Hooda, Avesh Khan, K Pandya/K Gowtham.
- These players will mainly contribute to the middle-order batting and fast bowling attack.
- M Pandey will make batting strong at the number 3 position, which he used to play at last season for SRH.
- For the number 4 and 5 positions, there are 2 contenders: D Hooda and M Vohra. Both played for PBKS in the past. So, KL knows how to use their skills. The most likely scenario will be M Vohra at 4 and D Hooda at 5. In addition, Hooda can bowl a few overs in the middle-overs as an off-break bowler.
- K Pandya comes in handy at the middle and lower-middle overs. If included in the playing 11, he will likely bat at the number 6 position. His descent economy rate in powerplay may become helpful for the team to take early wickets or put pressure on the opposition openers.
- K Gowtham plays the same role as K Pandya. Both will be an option for the number 6 position and 5th bowler in the team. It makes no sense to play both of them in the playing 11. Gowtham can hit sixes when needed. It comes down to who can handle the pressure to finish off the inning better. K Pandya has the upper hand in.
- Avesh Khan will be playing maximum matches for LSG as he is the in-form fast bowler and impressed with his hit-the-deck abilities last season. His pace in the powerplay and the death overs can make trouble for the opposition. Ankit Rajpoot will be his replacement in case of injury.
- Shahbaz Nadeem hasn't impressed much with his bowling, and LSG may not look at him as a spin option in the initial stage of the tournament.
- With his left-arm fast bowling, Mohsin Khan will become crucial in particular matches, as the lack of quality leftie pacers in the squad makes the pace attack incomplete.
List of foreign players LSG bought from the mega auction:
Player | Role | Price | IPL 2021 Performance | T20 Performance in 2021 |
Quinten de Kock | Left-hand batsman + WK | 6.75 Cr | 11M, 297 runs, 29.70 avg, 116.02 SR | 34M, 1023 runs, 36.54 avg, 132.5 SR |
Jason Holder | Right-arm seam AR | 8.75 Cr | 8M, 85 runs + 16W | 31M, 308 runs + 31W |
Evin Lewis | Left-arm batsman | 2 Cr | 5M, 151 runs, 30.20 avg, 162.37 SR | 34M, 1066 runs, 34.39 avg, 159.58 SR |
Kyle Mayers | Right-arm medium AR | 50 L | – | 10M, 187 runs + 3W |
D Chameera | Right-arm fast bowler | 2 Cr | – | 29M, 35W, 7.74 economy |
Mark Wood | Right-arm Pace fast bowler | 7.5 Cr | – | 8M, 8W, 8.16 economy |
Out of these 6 overseas players, 3 are almost certain to appear in the playing 11 most often: Quinten de Kock, Jason Holder, and D Chameera/Mark Wood.
- Quinten de Kock will be an opening partner for KL. No doubt about that. He has got a few wicket-keeping tricks up in his gloves! Which makes him a WK contender over KL himself! This impressive batsman will also fit in the left-right opening combination for the LSG.
- With his high-arm swing bowling, Jason Holder will be very crucial for powerplay bowling options. His recent form as an all-rounder got him a price tag of a whopping 8.75 Cr. He can also bat in the middle-order at 5-6 and give the batting order more depth.
- Evin Lewis's ability to hit at a strike rate of over 160 makes him a contender for an opening position, which doesn't seem to happen as QdK is already there. It will be subject to injury whether he gets a chance to bat at the top or not.
- Kyle Mayers falls in the same category as M Stoinis and J Holder. He can do some hitting at the top and a 5th or 6th bowling option when needed. His spot in the playing 11 doesn't look strong at this moment.
- D Chameera and M Wood. This will be a dilemma for the LSG team management too. Both can bowl at higher speed, but Chameera can also bowl slower-ones in death, which makes a case in his favor. An ideal scenario will be LSG rotating both of them based on the pitch, but D Chameera, for now, will be in the playing 11 most of the time.
Probable, Ideal, and Stable Playing 11:
Openers: KL Rahul, Quinten de Kock
Middle Order: Manish Pandey, Manan Vohra, D Hooda
All-rounders: Jason Holder, Marcus Stoinis/Krunal Pandya/Krishnappa Gowtham
Bowlers: Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, D Chameera, Mark Wood/Mohsin Khan
Strength:
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Opportunities:
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The Verdict
Last season, KL Rahul single-handedly pulled the batting of Punjab Kings and always fell short of just a few runs to convert the effort into a win. This time it seems like he will not be the only one to carry the batting; he's got a strong core of batters who will support him. The 1st layer playing 11 looks very well balanced, but a couple of injuries will cause a lot of damage to the stability of this new team.