The intense bidding war on some of the star players took the cricketing world by storm in the IPL 2023 mini-auction, held in Kochi last week.
While England all-rounder Sam Curran became the costliest purchase in auction history after fetching INR 18.50 Crore from Punjab Kings, Cameron Green (17.50 Crore) and Ben Stokes (16.25 Crore) also secured record deals with Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings respectively.
However, one top pick that caught everyone’s attention was West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran, who was roped in by Lucknow Super Giants for a hefty sum of INR 16 Crore.
Pooran might have played some swashbuckling knocks for the West Indies and in multiple T20 leagues, but his performances in the IPL have been underwhelming over the years.
The southpaw turned up for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2022 season, amassing 306 runs in 13 innings with two half-centuries to his name. He played for Punjab Kings in the IPL 2021 season and managed to score only 85 runs from 11 innings.
Despite the poor showing, LSG’s mentor Gautam Gambhir put his faith on Pooran and justified spending a whopping amount on the Caribbean cricketer.
“I don't look at the last season. I look at the player's ability and impact. This tournament is not about scoring 500-600 runs. That player can win you 2-3 matches in a season, and he has age on his side. If you can get such a player, you try your best to build your team around him,” Gambhir told JioCinema.
“I'm not only looking for this season, he also provides us longevity. Very less players in that age bracket (27-28) have that ability. Pooran will continue to get better as he plays. I always believe that records only make headlines but impact wins you the tournament,” he added.
Gambhir further said that the Super Giants invested heavily in Pooran because they were in search of a finisher in the playing XI.
“Finisher. I can't tell you the XI. But we have Marcus Stoinis, Pooran, and Quinton de Kock. Moreover, we will now be having the impact player rule as well. We will make our XI in such a way that if we have to bring in a replacement, we can pick any of these players to bring into the match,” he remarked.
