The new Lucknow IPL franchise appointed former India batter Gautam Gambhir as their mentor for the upcoming IPL 2022 season on Saturday (December 18). Earlier, the Sanjiv Goenka-owned RPSG Group had signed Andy Flower as their head coach.
Cricketer-turned-cricket pundit Aakash Chopra liked the developments in the Lucknow franchise and he is now looking forward to the three draft picks by the franchise. Chopra named three players that the franchise should target in the IPL 2022 auction which could set up a strong core for them going forward.
"Lucknow franchise is making all the right moves…Flower as a coach. Gambhir as a mentor. Now, waiting for the draft picks," tweeted Chopra before naming his three picks.
The 44-year-old finds India's opener KL Rahul, Afghanistan spin sensation Rashid Khan and one of the ex-Mumbai Indian batters, Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya as ideal picks for Lucknow.
Rahul had parted ways with the Punjab Kings franchise, while Rashid and Sunrisers Hyderabad couldn't come to an agreement on retention money. Mumbai let Ishan and Hardik go, and retained Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, and Kieron Pollard for IPL 2022.
