By Bharath Ramaraj
Overview
Under the leadership of KL Rahul, Lucknow Super Giants fired in fits and starts before fizzling out at the Eliminator stage in last year’s Indian Premier League. Since then, the franchise has tried to rectify some of the flaws in the engine room by making smart picks in the mini-auction.
Can some of the crucial pieces of jigsaw that they have added in the mini-auction work for them? Will Rahul find the right gears through the innings? Can Mark Wood turn out to be the battering ram of the side? Can their battery of all-rounders help them usurp sides? The LSG camp would be quietly confident of putting up a good show this season.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Last season, one of LSG’s bugbears was that they were heavily dependent on the trio of Rahul, Qunton de Kock and Deepak Hooda to do the bulk of the scoring. Subsequently, the LSG think-tank decided to part ways with the likes of Jason Holder, Dushmantha Chameera, Evin Lewis and Manish Pandey. They then ended up shelling out as much as 16 crores for Nicholas Pooran in the auction. The experienced cricketer would be looking to make an impact after wading through a rather difficult phase. He stepped down as West Indies’ limited-overs captain after the side bowed out in Round 1 at the T20 World Cup held in Australia in 2022. After the completion of the 2022 IPL, Sunrisers Hyderabad had also parted ways with Pooran.
LSG also bought Jaydev Unadkat, the experienced left-arm pace bowler, in the auction. It could turn out to be a smart buy as the impressive Mohsin Khan looks set to miss most of the season because of an injury. Wood, who missed last season due to an elbow problem, will add another arrow to their quiver. Wood isn’t just one of the fastest bowlers going around, but he also hits the deck very hard. Meanwhile, Ravi Bishnoi would be expected to spearhead the spin department.
Tactics Watch
With so many all-rounders in the side, it could give LSG a small advantage. Having said that, they perhaps can play only Marcus Stoinis among the four overseas slots as De Kock, Wood and Pooran look set to take the other three places.
Impact Player Watch
LSG could look at using Prerak Mankad, Ayush Badoni or even an overseas player like Romario Shepherd as the Impact Player.
Last Year
Lucknow were in the top 2 for most of the regular season, until 2 losses in their final 3 matches pushed them down to 3rd spot. Bangalore then beat them in the Eliminator.
Best Finish
Given how hard it can be for an expansion team in a league such as this, they can be proud of that 4th place in 2022.
Likely XI
Quinton de Kock (WK), KL Rahul (C), Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Jaydev Unadkat, Ravi Bishnoi, Mark Wood, Avesh Khan