The Lucknow franchise is the costliest IPL team. Sanjeev Goenka owned RPSG group bought the Lucknow team for a whopping INR 7090 crores. They generated a lot of buzz right since they were inducted into the IPL. Cricket fans were waiting with bated breath to see how they build their team. Here is Lucknow IPL Team Draft Players List 2022.
Lucknow IPL Team Draft Players List 2022
The expectations:
It was widely expected that Lucknow will appoint KL Rahul as their captain. This information was no longer breaking news. All the eyes were set on who will be the other 2 players whom Lucknow would pick. There were a lot of speculations surrounding Rashid Khan and Ishan Kishan joining the team. Fans even expected the Lucknow team to pick a veteran like David Warner in their ranks. But their eventual picks in the player drafts left everyone surprised.
Players Lucknow have picked through the draft:
Lucknow’s first pick in the draft was a no-brainer. They picked KL Rahul for INR 15 crores. The signing amount raises an eyebrow as Rahul with Punjab would surely have fetched INR 16 crores for being the first pick. But the owners had a bigger surprise in store.
They signed Marcus Stoinis as their second pick. He is paid INR 11 crores for his services. Their third signing through the draft was of Ravi Bishnoi. Lucknow has signed him for INR 4 crores.
The steal of a deal with KL Rahul:
Lucknow signing KL Rahul for INR 15 crores is surely a steal. Rahul is currently one of the hottest properties in Indian cricket. His fortunes have skyrocketed in the past 6 months. Rahul is now an established member of the side across all 3 formats. He opens the batting in the T20Is.
Rahul is equally good against both pace and spin. He can double up as a wicketkeeper. Rahul has captaincy experience leading an IPL side previously. All these factors make him one of the most sought-after in the T20 circuit. Hence his acquisition makes a whole lot of sense.
The Stoinis effect:
Lucknow had plenty of options up their sleeves for picking the other two players. They could have opted for proven IPL veterans like David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan. A player like Rashid Khan would have spearheaded their bowling attack. But they made a surprising choice in picking up Australian allrounder, Marcus Stoinis.
Amidst all the big names available, his signing was surely a huge surprise. Stoinis had a fair T20 World Cup 2021 in all honesty. But does he really deserve being the second most valuable player for the world’s costliest cricketing franchise? Stoinis may yet well prove to be an effective signing but for now, the tactic lacks logic.
The uncapped glory:
If the signing of Stoinis was questionable then the signing of Ravi Bishnoi was just a mere extension. Nobody expected Lucknow to pick an uncapped player like Bishnoi from the player draft. His signing reminded cricket fans of RCB retaining Sarfaraz Khan in 2018 ahead of KL Rahul. It was one of the worst blunders in IPL history.
Bishnoi to his credit is a fine bowler who punches well above his weight. But again was he really worthy of being picked as a third player among the 300 available. Lucknow team will do well to answer this question.
