IPL 2025 Auction: Lucknow Super Giants squad analysis

Lucknow Super Giants parted ways with captain KL Rahul before the IPL retention deadline. Rather, the franchise retained Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, and Ayush Badoni ahead of the IPL mega-auction, which took place on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah. LSG broke the bank to acquire the services of star keeper-batter Rishabh Pant for a whopping INR 27 crore.

They also signed multiple heavy-hitters in the middle order, going after the likes of David Miller, Mitchell Marsh, and Aiden Markram. These in addition to the existing firepower of Nicholas Pooran and Ayush Badoni could well make the difference for the franchise this year. One area that remained unaddressed was investing in quality openers, with LSG likely to open with Aiden Markram or Mitchell Marsh this season.

LSG also did not sign quality overseas pacers. Shamar Joseph is a good investment but he is yet to make a name for himself in the shortest format. Their strength primarily lies in the batting department and when it comes to bowling, they would mostly rely on Indian talents in the form of Bishnoi, Mayank, Mohsin, and new signings Akash Deep and Shahbaz Ahmed. However, Mohsin and Mayank are injury-prone and the team management will have to use them wisely.

Squad strength: 24

Indian players: 18

Overseas players: 6

Retained players (5): Nicholas Pooran (21 Cr), Ravi Bishnoi (11 Cr), Mayank Yadav (11 Cr), Mohsin Khan (4 Cr), Ayush Badoni (4 Cr)

Players bought in the auction (19): Rishabh Pant (27 Cr), David Miller (7.5 Cr), Aiden Markram (2 Cr), Mitchell Marsh (3.4 Cr), Avesh Khan (9.75 Cr), Abdul Samad (4.2 Cr), Aryan Juyal (30L), Akash Deep (8 Cr), Himmat Singh (30L), M Siddharth (75L), Digvesh Singh (30L), Shahbaz Ahmed (1.9 Cr), Akash Singh (30L), Shamar Joseph (75L), Prince Yadav (30L), Yuvraj Chaudhary (30L), Rajvardhan Hangargekar (30L), Arshin Kulkarni (30L), Matthew Breetzke (75L)