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Lucknow Super Giants team 2023: Lucknow will arrive at the IPL 2023 auction with a budget of INR 23.35 crore. They can buy up to 10 cricketers, of whom at most four can be overseas.
Lucknow’s 2022 strategy revolved around a significant list of all-rounders. They batted deeper than most sides, and their bowlers often went unused, but the cushion in both departments allowed them much-needed buffer in emergency. They have retained most of their all-rounders, and are likely to count on them yet again.
Ahead of this season’s auctions, they released Jason Holder, Manish Pandey, Dushmantha Chameera, Evin Lewis, Andrew Tye, Shahbaz Nadeem, and Ankit Rajpoot.
Lucknow Super Giants team 2023
Strengths
Lucknow’s list of all-rounders seemed inexhaustible every time they took field. Even after releasing Holder, they still have Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Hooda, Krishnappa Gowtham, and Kyle Mayers, not to speak of Quinton de Kock.
Mohsin Khan impressed the cricket fraternity with his bowling last season. If Mark Wood features in most matches, Lucknow will have one of the finest new-ball pairs, backed by Avesh Khan and the leg-breaks of Ravi Bishnoi. They have an excellent young batter in Ayush Badoni as well.
Weaknesses
Rahul’s form has been a concern. If he does got runs, they often do not come quickly enough. They will also probably need another specialist spinner to back Bishnoi and the all-rounders, Hooda and Krunal. They have the budget – but they also have some slots to fill. They may also want to add another Indian batter.
Likely buys
Lucknow may opt for veteran spinners like Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla, or Shahbaz Nadeem, or youngsters like Ninad Rathwa of Baroda or Sumit Ruikar of Chhattisgarh. Since they prefer all-rounders, Vaisakh Chandran of Kerala is a handy option.
They can also afford to splurge on an expensive overseas all-rounder (in addition to Stoinis). However, they may prefer that to be a spinner, so Mohammad Nabi or Shakib Al Hasan are better bets than Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, and Cameron Green.
Lucknow Super Giants squad (overseas cricketers underlined)
KL Rahul (c), Marcus Stoinis, Quinton de Kock, Mark Wood, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Kyle Mayers, Ayush Badoni, Krishnappa Gowtham, Karan Sharma, Manan Vohra, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan.
Lucknow Super Giants team 2023 purse: INR 23.35 crore. Slots remaining: 10 (four overseas)
