Lucknow IPL Team owner Sanjiv Goenka said that KL Rahul will emerge as a phenomenal leader and he has everything it takes to succeed, after the franchise officially confirmed the Team India white-ball vice-captain as their captain for the upcoming IPL 2022 season.
The two new IPL teams, Lucknow and Ahmedabad, on Friday (21st January) announced their list of draft players ahead of the IPL 2022 auction.
Lucknow signed KL Rahul for a whopping amount of INR 17 Crores. The right-hander will also captain the side in the IPL 2022. The other picks of the franchise were Marcus Stoinis for INR 9.2 Crores and Ravi Bishnoi for INR 4 Crores.
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Speaking on Star Sports show IPL Selection Day, Lucknow franchise owner, Sanjiv Goenka said that he’s impressed with KL Rahul’s skills as a batter, wicket-keeper and captain. He remarked that with him maturing as a player he would’ve wanted him to lead the team and he will emerge as a phenomenal leader as he has everything it takes to succeed.
“Yes, KL will be the captain. I have been very impressed not only by KL’s batting and wicketkeeping abilities but also his leadership skills. He is evolving, he is growing, he is maturing as a player, as a leader, and he is somebody I would’ve wanted to lead the team.
“And I do believe, given the right atmosphere, given the right environment, he will emerge as a phenomenal leader, and he has everything it takes to succeed,” Sanjiv Goenka said.
Goenka said that there were multiple things they focused on as they were looking to build a foundation for a team that will be successful for many years. He revealed that their sole focus was on bagging players with multiple dimensions.
“There were multiple things. We were looking at not only building a team for one or two seasons, as we did in the case of Pune but actually, building the foundation for a team, which will compete successfully for many years. We were also looking for players with more than one facet, so not singular-dimension players,”he said.
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Sanjiv Goenka further said that the three players that they picked cover all departments for the franchise and bring all-round virtues which will help the team for "several years".
“So, KL is not only an outstanding batsman, he's a great wicketkeeper. Marcus is a great finisher, a good bowler, and a phenomenal fielder. Ravi brings a unique dimension to the spin department and is an exceptional fielder.
“So, we looked for players, who could do more than just one thing; players who would be with the franchise for several years - three, four, five, six, seven, eight years. And KL is in the batting department, Marcus is an all-rounder and Ravi is a bowler, so we have tried to cover all the three department,” he said.
Lucknow team will enter IPL 2022 auction with a purse of INR 59.80 crore. On the other hand, Hardik Pandya (INR 15 Crores), Rashid Khan (15 Crores) and Shubman Gill (INR 8 Crores) were the three draft picks of Ahmedabad franchise.
(ANI inputs)
