Both franchises and players reached an agreement on the trade and are awaiting the official approval of the swap by the BCCI this week.
In a recent development, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) has traded one of their fast bowlers to Rajasthan Royals (RR) and acquired a top-order batter in a direct trade ahead of IPL 2024. According to ESPNcricinfo, both franchises and players reached an agreement on the trade in the past week and awaiting the official approval of the swap by the BCCI this week.
Avesh Khan, currently part of the India squad for the T20I series against Australia was acquired by Super Giants for INR 10 crore in the mega auction in 2022. Meanwhile, Royals paid INR 7.75 crore for Devdutt Padikkal. Both players were retained by their respective franchises this year.
For Padikkal, this move to Super Giants marks his third stint with an IPL franchise. He commenced his IPL journey with his hometown team Royal Challengers Bangalore where he spent two seasons (2020 and 21). Similarly, for Avesh, joining Royals will mark his third franchise after having debuted with Delhi Capitals.
In 2021, Avesh emerged as the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 24 wickets at an average of 18.75. After being released by Capitals ahead of the mega auction, Avesh was fiercely bid for by Super Giants in a four-way bidding war in 2022. He concluded the 2022 season as Super Giants’ leading wicket-taker, contributing to their playoff qualification in their inaugural IPL season.
However, Avesh faced challenges on the slow and underprepared pitches in Lucknow during the 2023 season. Struggling to complete his full quota of four overs in five out of nine games, he finished the 2023 season with just eight wickets at an average of 35.37, with an economy rate of 9.75.
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This marks the second trade ahead of the 2024 season, following Super Giants’ earlier trade of Romario Shepherd to Mumbai Indians earlier this month. The IPL has set a deadline of November 26 for franchises to announce their retention lists, with the player auction for the 2024 season scheduled to take place in Dubai on December 19.
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