Due to some flaws in the final stages of IPL 2022, Lucknow Super Giants’ initially promising voyage came to an end. The KL Rahul-led team will be aiming to make up for last season’s mistakes and go the distance this time.
On the points standings, they came in third the previous year. At one point, they were in first place on the standings with 16 points from 11 games, but they dropped two of their final three league stage contests and ended behind Rajasthan Royals, who advanced to the semifinals and final. LSG had to compete in the Eliminator, where they were defeated by Royal Challengers Bangalore by 14 runs after failing to successfully hunt down 208.
In the prior IPL, Jaydev Unadkat played only five games for the Mumbai Indians, making no particularly noteworthy statistical contributions. For the 31-year-old, however, circumstances have improved recently. He was recalled to the Test squad, took the most wickets during Saurashtra’s title-winning Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign, performed admirably in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and captained his team expertly as they won the Ranji Trophy with the captain taking 26 wickets in just four games.
After a heated negotiation with PBKS at the time of the auction, LSG acquired Yash Thakur for 45 lakhs. Since making his List A début in the 2016–17 season, the Vidarbha pacer has shown a lot of potential at the domestic level. The 2018/19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy marked the bowler’s first T20 appearance with his right-arm medium-fast arm. (SMAT).
With 55 wickets in 37 games at an average of 14.40, a 6.68 economy rate, and a 12.9 strike rate, Thakur has an excellent T20 record. He also had the most wickets (15) for Vidarbha in the SMAT the previous year.
Mayank Yadav, a right-arm medium-fast spinner, was acquired by Lucknow at the mega-auction in 2022 for the sum of 20 lakhs. The KL Rahul-led team kept the Delhi bowler in their squad before the auction despite the fact that he did not appear last season.
The 20-year-old played Manipur in SMAT 2022/23 for the first time in a T20 match. In his six matches, he took seven wickets at an average of 15, an economy rate of 6.56, and a strike rate of 13.7, demonstrating tremendous promise and ability.
Last year, the left-arm quick’s participation in the Indian Premier League (IPL) was all but guaranteed. Mohsin Khan struck the ball late both ways while approaching 150 kph. He also bowls a slower ball that is expertly concealed. Mohsin, however, suffered an injury shortly after the 2017 IPL, and his primary concern heading into the competition this year is fitness. Given the dearth of quality left-arm quicks in India, Mohsin, 24, should walk into the India squad as soon as he is completely fit.
Bishnoi, who plays for the Lucknow Super Giants team, will try to justify coach Gautam Gambhir’s confidence in him by serving as the captain KL Rahul’s main spin bowling option.
Squad:
KL Rahul (c), Avesh Khan, Ayush Badoni, Quinton de Kock (wk), K Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Prerak Mankad, Kyle Mayers, Amit Mishra, Mohsin Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Ravi Bishnoi, Daniel Sams, Karan Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Marcus Stoinis, Swapnil Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, Manan Vohra, Mark Wood, Mayank Yadav, Yash Thakur, Yudhvir Singh.
