Gautam Gambhir is the mentor of the newly added Lucknow-based IPL franchise.
Lucknow-based IPL franchise has signed KL Rahul for INR 17 crore ahead of the IPL 2022 mega-auction and named him their captain. Apart from Rahul, they have paid INR 9.2 crore to Australia's Marcus Stoinis and INR 4 crore to young leggie Ravi Bishnoi.
Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir, the mentor of Lucknow, spoke on the franchise's decision to appoint Rahul as captain and said it was a 'no-brainer'. Rahul was part of Punjab Kings in the last IPL cycle and he led the side after R Ashwin was traded to Delhi Capitals.
Gambhir added that Rahul offers three things as a player which made him the front-runner for the leadership role. "No brainer when it comes to KL Rahul, not just as a batter but as a leader as well."
"Obviously, it's a work in progress, but he gives you three things -- he opens the batting, he can keep wickets and he is a phenomenal white-ball batter, his consistency, and his run-scoring has been phenomenal when he has played for Punjab and other franchises and what better than having someone who gives you 3 things," he told Star Sports IPL Selection Day.
Gambhir further spoke on the decision to pick Stoinis and said that all-rounder Ben Stokes' uncertainty over the availability for the tournament made them get the Aussie cricketer. Stoinis was part of the Delhi Capitals franchise in the previous IPL seasons.
"Marcus Stoinis is a beautiful finisher. We were not 100 percent sure whether Ben Stokes was going to be in the auction or not, so there were not too many quality all-rounders. Plus Stoinis can bat in the middle order and can finish off the game as well," he said.
(With Star Sports Inputs)