Former Indian cricketer and the newly-appointed mentor of Lucknow IPL franchise, Gautam Gambhir hailed KL Rahul after he was named as the captain of the franchise ahead of the IPL 2022 mega-auction.
Well, on Friday, the Lucknow franchise, owned by RPSG Group, announced India’s star cricketer KL Rahul as their captain. KL Rahul was signed for Rs. 17 crores, making him the joint-highest-paid player in the IPL across seasons, alongwith Virat Kohli.
KL Rahul, who was leading the Punjab Kings for the last two seasons of the Indian Premier League had decided to move away from the Punjab-based franchise. Later, the franchise also didn’t retain him ahead of the IPL 2022 mega-auction.
While his captaincy is being looked at as a work in progress, Rahul has impressed one and all with his batting performances and keeping skills. KL Rahul has been one of the highest run-getters in the IPL. In the 94 games he has played so far, KL Rahul has amassed 3273 runs at a staggering average of over 47.
Meanwhile, the newly-appointed mentor of the Lucknow IPL franchise, Gautam Gambhirclaimed that appointing Rahul as their captain was a ‘no-brainer’. He also said that KL brings a lot of elements to the table and his track record as a batter has been terrific. He said:
“No brainer when it comes to KL Rahul, not just as a batter but as a leader as well. Obviously, it’s a work in progress, but he gives you three things — he opens the batting, he can keep wickets and he is a phenomenal white-ball batter, his consistency and his run-scoring has been phenomenal when he has played for Punjab and other franchises and what better than having someone who gives you 3 things,”
Besides KL Rahul, Lucknow paid Rs 9.2 crore to get Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and INR 4 crores to India’s uncapped leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi. Gambhir explained the reason behind picking Marcus Stoinis in the team. He said:
“Marcus Stoinis is a beautiful finisher. We were not 100 percent sure whether Ben Stokes was going to be in the auction or not, so there were not too many quality all-rounders. Plus Stoinis can bat in the middle order and can finish off the game as well,”
Earlier, the head of the RPSG Group that owns the franchise, Sanjiv Goenka said Star Sports: “KL is not only an outstanding batsman but also a great wicketkeeper,”
Team owner, Dr. Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman @rpsggroup welcomes the 3️⃣ drafted picks for #TeamLucknow! ??@klrahul11 @MStoinis @bishnoi0056 #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/AbbURvQC5Q
— Official Lucknow IPL Team (@TeamLucknowIPL) January 21, 2022
Meanwhile, the Lucknow team will head into the IPL 2022 mega auction, scheduled for February 13 and 14, with a purse value of Rs 58 crore.
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