They bought too many inconsistent or unknown players instead of going for several top options and barely spent anything on quality cricketers.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) probably had the most disappointing IPL 2025 auction and their strategy was strange. They bought too many inconsistent or unknown players instead of going for several top options and barely spent anything on quality cricketers.
Consequently, they look among the weakest teams after the auction, with gaps in several areas. The problem will start from the top, as LSG does not appear to have picked quality starters who have consistently played this role at this level.
The initial conundrum for the Lucknow Supergiants
Lucknow Super Giants have a couple of decent options to open the innings in Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh. However, both have been very inconsistent, and Markram is not even sure to start in the strongest XI.
There is also the option of opening with Arshin Kulkarni and Yuvraj Chaudhary, but they do not have enough experience to fully trust them. The team can still open with one of them, but must partner with at least one experienced option.
Unfortunately, LSG does not have too many experienced players in the group and those available are not suitable for the first place. Surprisingly, LSG did not have many options in the auction to open the innings.
Also Read: Rohit Sharma and Rishabh panting? India’s XI for SCG Test will witness big decisions
How can LSG find a long-term solution for the starting position?
Now that LSG’s auction strategy has gone awry, there is no other option but to find solutions using available resources. They have a way to solve this problem by making an innovative decision.
LSG has spent a whopping INR 27 crore on Rishabh Pant, making him the most expensive IPL player, and they should look to maximize his strengths. The Lucknow-based franchise can field him to open the innings instead of taking the traditional approach of batting him in the middle order.
It will allow the team to use Mitchell Marsh at number 3, where he has vast experience and takes the game forward against the pacers. That would also mean that LSG will not have to play Aiden Markram, who has had a lot of success as a T20 player in recent times.
Several players can bat in the middle order but only a few can be backed to do the job as openers. Rishabh Pant is surely one of those options.
Why Rishabh Pant should take up the opening role for LSG?
While Rishabh Pant has batted mainly in the middle order in IPL, he has previous experience of batting in the top order and opening for his teams. In fact, he used to play as an opener during his early days, including national and age group tournaments.
Overall, Pant has 644 runs at an average of 32.20 and a strike rate of 162.21 in 21 T20 innings as an opener, including five fifties and a century. Recently, he batted at number 3 for India in the T20 World Cup 2024, where he did relatively well compared to batting in the middle order.
At times, he gets stuck and tries too many things in the middle order, and the spinners restrict him when the field is spread out. This has been a trend in his T20 batting, which was one of the reasons behind his disappointing results in IPL, even though he did well in patches.
While opening, he can target his strongest suit, the pacers, during field restrictions and maximize power plays. Naturally, he is suited to bat in the top order, and LSG can use this to their advantage to protect their flawed strategy in the auction.
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