Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) made an impressive debut at the recently held IPL 2022 mega auction as they formed a formidable squad in the two-day event. The LSG franchise, owned by Sanjiv Goenka of the RPSG group, had previously picked KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, and Ravi Bishnoi before the auction.
Goenka said after the IPL 2022 auction that he was pleased that Lucknow Super Giants managed to achieve their goal of bagging "high performance, multi-utility" players.
LSG managed to bag some big names in Quinton de Kock, Jason Holder, Evin Lewis, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Hooda, Mark Wood, and Avesh Khan amongst others in the IPL 2022 auction.
"We are very happy. I'm glad we seem to have a well-considered, versatile squad. We wanted to have a lot of multi-skilled, multi-dimensional players and some backup options and we could pull it off. Even though we had all plans in place, there was a lot of thinking on our feet involved. We got a great opener in Quinton (de Kock). We have a very good all-rounder in Jason Holder. In Rahul and Manish Pandey we have two solid Indian batsmen," RPSG Group chairman and franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka told TOI.
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Goenka added, "In the auction, it was a conscious effort to go for spinners, particularly multi-utility spinners. That's also worked out well. The team looks balanced."
On the other hand, head coach Andy Flower said that Lucknow also kept in mind the wearing pitches in the second half of the season, while planning their bids.
"I wouldn't blanket-value one type of cricketer with the value of another type. In Krunal's case, we targeted the individual. He has loads of IPL experience, is a very useful spin option, and can bat at No. 5. It was a first for me, planning with Gautam Gambhir (team mentor), Vijay Dahiya (assistant coach), and KL (Rahul). I'm glad all the planning was on point,” Flower said.
The franchise also bagged speedster Avesh Khan for Rs 10 crore to partner England pacer Wood.
Speaking on the same, Flower said: "I'm pleased with the addition of a long-term prospect like Avesh. He is a super performer. He is fast, has a good slower ball and lots of variations.”
Luckily for Lucknow, the injury-prone Wood is expected to be available for a large part of the season, meaning a formidable new-ball pairing.
(Times of India inputs)
