2022 Indian Premier League Team Preview: Lucknow Super Giants

Lucknow Super Giants is the second team to be added in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 edition. The franchise was purchased by RP Sanjiv Goenka Group in a deal worth of approx. US$940 million.

The team will be led by India’s star top-order batter KL Rahul whereas former Zimbabwe captain and wicketkeeper-batter Andy Flower is the head coach.

Lucknow Super Giants will play their first game against the fellow newcomers Gujrat Titans on March 28 whereas their last fixture of the league stage will be against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on May 18.

Squads:

KL Rahul (captain), Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi, Quinton de Kock, Manish Pandey, Jason Holder, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Mark Wood (injured/replaced by Andrew Tye), Avesh Khan, Ankit Rajpoot, K Gowtham, Dushmanta Chameera, Shahbaz Nadeem, Manan Vohra, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Kyle Mayers, Karan Sharma, Evin Lewis, Mayank Yadav, B Sai Sudharsan

Players to watch out for

KL Rahul

KL Rahul will be representing a new franchise this season after captaining Punjab Kings in the previous season. Lucknow Super Giants will be hoping for big things from the top-order batter. The 29-year-old has a lot of experience of playing in India’s premier T20 competition as he has already 94 matches and has scored 3,273 runs at an average of 47.43, which include two centuries and 27 fifties.

Quinton de Kock

Quinton de Kock is a renowned name in international cricket but has had a hard time over the last 12 months. The veteran wicketkeeper-batter will be hoping to have an impressive campaign this year with a new franchise that will be hoping for big things from the South Africa international. De Kock has already played 77 matches in IPL where he has scored 2,256 runs at an average of 31.33, which include a century and 16 fifties.

Jason Holder

Jason Holder is undoubtedly one of the most underrated players in the world of cricket. West Indies’ veteran all-rounder is a very effective bowler and is more than handy with the bat in hand therefore, he might prove to be an excellent acquisition for the Super Giants in this year’s IPL. Holder has already played 26 matches in India’s premier T20 competition where he has managed to score 189 runs at an average of 14.53 along with the strike-rate of 121.15. With the ball in hand, the 30-year-old has 35 wickets to his name at an average of 22.45 along with an economy-rate of 8.20.

Manish Pandey

Manish Pandey is being around for some time but has failed to cement his place in the starting XI in the national team. The 32-year-old will be hoping to use the platform provided by Lucknow Super Giants in the upcoming campaign. Pandey has already played 154 matches in IPL where he has scored 3,560 runs at an average of 30.68 along with the strike-rate of 121.83, which include one century and 21 half-centuries.

Krunal Pandya

Krunal Pandya, just like his brother Hardik, will be representing a new franchise in this year’s IPL. The 30-year-old is highly rated in the cricketing community but has failed to cement his place in the best all-rounders in the country. Pandya will be hoping that the change of franchise will help him achieve that objective. The 30-year-old has played 84 matches in IPL where he has managed to score 1,143 runs at an average of 22.86 along with the strike-rate of 138.54 whereas he also ha