LSG Likely To Retain Nicholas Pooran & 2 Uncapped Indians; Yet To Take Call On KL Rahul – Report – News18
KL Rahul, Nicholas Pooran. (Picture Credit: Sportzpics)
Pooran joined LSG for Rs 16 crore in the IPL 2023 auction and scored 499 runs in 14 matches of IPL 2024 for the franchise.
Lucknow Super Giants is keen to retain West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran and two uncapped Indian players—Ayush Badoni and Mohsin Khan—ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, which is expected to take place in the last week of November 2024. According to a report in Indian Express on Thursday, the Lucknow-based franchise will retain Pooran, who has been on fire in T20s this year, but it is yet to take a call on captain KL Rahul.
Rahul joined LSG for Rs 17 crore from the Punjab Kings ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auctions and has led them in the last three IPL seasons. But there were reports of him parting ways with the franchise after a video of LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka having a heated debate with him in IPL 2024 went viral on the internet.
During an event last month, Goenka said that Rahul is an integral part of LSG, but any decision on his retention is yet to be taken.
The 32-year-old right-handed batter, who is currently playing for India in the first Test against New Zealand these days, is LSG’s all-time leading run scorer in the cash-rich league.
While it remains to be seen how much money LSG splashes out for Pooran, it can secure Badoni and Mohsin’s services for Rs 4 crore each.
PBKS to retain Arshdeep
It has also been reported that the Punjab Kings have opened talks with Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh for retention. In addition to the star left-arm pacer, who finished as the joint-leading wicket-taker in IPL 2024, the Mohali-based franchise, which is co-owned by Preity Zinta, also wants to retain Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma as uncapped players. Both Shashank and Ashutosh played many impactful knocks for PBKS in the 2024 edition of IPL.
PBKS parted ways with former England and KKR head coach Trevor Bayliss after IPL 2024 and hired former Australian captain Ricky Ponting as head coach. Ponting served as DC’s head coach for seven years, and he also has the experience of winning the IPL title with the Mumbai Indians in 2015.
