Lucknow Supergiants reached the play-offs in their maiden Indian Premier League appearance but 2023 season will be a bit trickier for them. The franchise still doesn't know whether they would get left-arm speedster Mohsin Khan, who has suffered an elbow surgery and the rehab will be a tough one. However not going for any of the all-rounders and getting Nicholas Pooran as a finisher is as baffling as it gets. Pooran (Rs 16 crore) and Daniel Sams (Rs 75 lakh) were two of their costliest buys.
As Scott Styris, one of the analysts on Jio Cinema put it, "For that kind of price, he has to put in more consistent performances." Also with Quinton de Kock in the line-up, it will be interesting as to who dons the big gloves. Among franchises with reasonable purse, LSG's Pooran seems to be the worst buy.
In 2021, he scored 85 runs in 11 innings and in 2022, it was better with 306 runs from 13 knocks at 144 strike-rate but with only two fifty plus knocks for Sunisers Hyderabad.
Lucknow Supergiants full squad: Players Bought in IPL 2023 auction - Yudhvir Charak (INR 20 lakh), Naveen-ul-Haq (INR 50 lakh), Swapnil Singh (INR 20 lakh), Prerak Mankad (INR 20 lakh), Amit Mishra (INR 50 lakh), Daniel Sams (INR 75 lakh), Romario Shepherd (INR 50 lakh), Yash Thakur (INR 45 lakh), Jaydev Unadkat (INR 50 lakh), Nicholas Pooran (INR 16 crore),
Player retained: KL Rahul (c), Ayush Badoni, Karan Sharma, Manan Vohra, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Krishnappa Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Kyle Mayers, Krunal Pandya, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Mark Wood, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi.