LSG made some grave mistakes at the auction, leaving them with several question marks in the IPL 2025.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have had a middling run since they were introduced in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2022. They made it to the playoffs in their first two editions but finished seventh last year.
The growing tensions between the owners and captain KL Rahul meant that they had to part ways. At the recent mega auction, LSG splashed INR 27 crore for Rishabh Pant, making him the most expensive player in the league’s history. They have handed over the captaincy reins to Pant for the upcoming season.
Earlier, Lucknow Super Giants had retained Nicholas Pooran, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, and Ayush Badoni. During the auction, they added Mitch Marsh, Aiden Markram, Avesh Khan, Akash Deep, and David Miller among others.
Nonetheless, LSG made some grave mistakes at the auction, leaving them with several question marks in the IPL 2025.
When Rishabh Pant was released by his former franchise Delhi Capitals, it was obvious he’d go for a huge amount. But is he worth that amount in an IPL auction?
A new chapter begins. Welcoming @RishabhPant17 as the captain of @LucknowIPL – a born leader with a winning mindset, passion, and determination to inspire greatness. Together, we chase the @IPL dream.#LSG #RishabhPant #IPL2025 pic.twitter.com/U7i1x22scd
— Dr. Sanjiv Goenka (@DrSanjivGoenka) January 20, 2025
A left-hand wicketkeeper batter and a captaincy choice, you can argue he is worth it. But let’s see the repercussions of that move. LSG went into the auction with a remaining purse of INR 69 crore, of which they spent 27 on their first buy. It meant their entire auction was compromised and they could not go after big players.
Pant’s T20 game hasn’t been as reliable as some of his peers. He did have a good IPL season last year, where he averaged 40 and struck at 155 but had an ordinary T20 World Cup.
Mitchell Marsh is a multiple-time ICC tournament winner for Australia but he has failed to do anything noteworthy in the IPL. Given his track record, the Super Giants made a baffling decision to acquire him.
Marsh has played 46 matches in the IPL over the years, managing to score 665 runs at an average of under 20 and a strike rate of 127. On top of that, Marsh has a bad history with fitness. He missed more than half the season last year with a hamstring injury and was recently ruled out of the Champions Trophy 2025 due to a back injury.
Much like Marsh, LSG made another poor call by adding Aiden Markram. The South African batter might be a superstar in the SA20 but has been disappointing in the last couple of IPL seasons. Markram has scored 468 runs from 24 innings in this period at an average of 23 and a strike rate of 125. At a home venue like Lucknow, he could be a liability to the team.
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Lucknow Super Giants used a Right-To-Match card on Shamar Joseph. He is their only overseas pace option in the squad and he is far from a proven performer in the shorter format.
LSG chose to trust Indian seamers, adding Avesh Khan and Akash Deep to the pace attack which already had Mayank Yadav and Mohsin Khan. The latter two have high potential but are injury-prone while the former two have a poor T20 record.
The Super Giants spent INR 17.75 crore to acquire Avesh and Akash Deep. They could have easily spent most of that amount to get a quality overseas pacer.
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