Last Updated on 2 years by Charbel Coorey

Cricket News: 5 players Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) can target in the IPL 2023 Auction | 5 players LSG may target in the IPL 2023 Auction

The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) reached the Eliminator in their debut season, where they were knocked by the individual brilliance of Rajat Patidar. It was an excellent campaign for a team in their first season in the Indian Premier League.

The likes of KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya are proven performers in the IPL and form a very strong core for Lucknow. Also, Mark Wood will return (injury dependent) which will strengthen their pace attack. The exciting seam duo of Mohsin Khan and Avesh Khan will be back in action, as well as the legspin of Ravi Bishnoi.

Despite this, LSG still have a couple of gaps to fill. First, they need an overseas batter in the middle order and a good backup pacer for Mark Wood to manage his workload. Also, LSG have Stoinis as their first-choice pace all-rounder, but is a bit injury prone when he bowls regularly. Surprisingly, they released Jason Holder and retained Kyle Mayers when there’s no room at the top.

Let’s take a look at their squad, how their eleven looks at the moment and the remaining purse for the upcoming auction.

LSG IPL 2023 Current Squad

KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock*, Deepak Hooda, Kyle Mayers*, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis*, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mark Wood*, Mohsin Khan, Manan Vohra, Karan Sharma, Mayank Yadav, Krishnappa Gowtham

Players Released

Andrew Tye, Ankit Rajpoot, Dushmantha Chameera, Evin Lewis, Jason Holder, Manish Pandey, Shahbaz Nadeem

Probable Playing XI

KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock* (wk), TBC, Deepak Hooda/TBC, Ayush Badoni/Krishnappa Gowtham, Marcus Stoinis*, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mark Wood*, Mohsin Khan

Purse

• 23.35 Crores Left
• 4 Overseas Slots

Needs

• An overseas batter in the middle order (number 3 or 4)
• A good backup pacer for Mark Wood.
• Maybe one Indian pacer as a backup for Mohsin and Avesh.

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Players Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) can target for IPL 2023

Nicholas Pooran

Nicholas Pooran could prove to be a great pick for the Super Giants. We all know what he is capable of with the bat. Pooran is yet to produce his best in the IPL but he did a good job in the last season for SRH, where he hit 306 runs in 13 innings at an average of 38.25 and strike rate of 144.33 with two fifties.

Pooran can provide stability to the middle order and can score quickly in the middle overs. He may go for a high price but LSG has the purse to go for him.

Kane Williamson

Kane Williamson, after being retained by SRH over Rashid Khan, has been released prior to the IPL 2023 auction. He hasn’t been in the best of form with the bat in recent times and had a pretty poor campaign in IPL 2022. Despite this, Kane is a quality batter; one of the best in the world when on song and may prove to be a solid pick for the Lucknow Super Giants for IPL 2023.

He can bat at three with Deepak Hooda batting at four. This will allow the openers to play freely and Kane can take care of things in case of an early wicket or two. He is a good player of spin bowling and can play the aggressive brand of cricket should he have the license to.

Remember, Williamson won the Orange Cap in 2018. LSG has the firepower in the batting unit and the Kiwi captain can play the anchor role at number three with all the others batting around him.

Adam Milne

Mark Wood missed IPL 2022 due to injury, in addition to a chunk of international cricket over the years. He is one of those pacers who needs proper workload management, especially in a long tournament like the IPL where it is unrealistic to expect him to play every match.

Thus, LSG needs a good backup pacer. Adam Milne is an ideal pick. He too has been a little injury prone but with him switching games with Wood, he can contribute throughout the season. Milne too bowls at a high pace and can be used in any phase of the game. He has a superb career economy of 7.69 in death overs (17-20) in T20 cricket.

Vaibhav Arora

Lucknow also needs a good Indian pacer in their ranks as they only have Avesh Khan and Mohsin Khan in their ranks after releasing Ankit Rajpoot ahead of the auction.

Vaibhav Arora can be an excellent pick for LSG. He was very impressive in IPL 2022 for the Punjab Kings. He can swing the new ball both ways and is a genuine wicket-taker upfront. Lucknow can play all three of Vaibhav, Mohsin and Avesh, with Vaibhav and Mohsin bowling in the powerplay and Avesh being the middle-over enforcer.

Rilee Rossouw

Rilee Rossouw can be another top pick for the Lucknow Super Giants. He can bat at number three or four, and provides similar value to Nicholas Pooran. Rossouw has played in different T20 leagues around the globe and has been in good form for the Proteas in international cricket.

Lucknow needs a proper left-hand batter in the middle overs and Rossow will be a great addition to their squad.

So, these were the three players LSG can target in the upcoming auction. They desperately need a good overseas batter in the middle order. Someone like Nicholas Pooran or Rilee Rossouw can be the ideal option for them. Other than that, they have most of the bases covered. LSG will be eyeing a good performance on the auction table and eventually on the field for IPL 2023.

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