Lucknow Super Giants’ Performance in Indian T20 League

Lucknow Super Giants Team Schedule for Indian T20 league 2023

Squad Analysis of Lucknow Super Giants

The squad that was gathered for 2022 looked too top heavy with two extremely reliable run-getters opening the batting, but what followed created a sense of uncertainty. While Deepak Hooda rose to the occasion and young Badoni helped the team finish matches, players like Pandey and Lewis didn’t deliver the way they were expected to. That’s why the team invested in Nicholas Pooran, who has begun 2023 on a bright note and will be looked up by the management to bring stability to the batting order as well as press the pedal when the need arises. The team had multiple all-round options last year in Jason Holder and Marcus Stoinis but with the impact player rule coming in, they wouldn’t need so many all-round options and that’s why Holder was off-loaded ahead of the season.

Strengths – Like last year, the team’s biggest strength lies at the top of the order as both Rahul and De Kock are names that guarantee big runs in the Indian T20 League. They are very well capable of giving the team a steady start and a good platform on which big-hitters like Pooran and Hooda should build. There is much depth in the lineup as Marcus Stoinis and Krunal Pandya are powerful hitters themselves.

Weaknesses – The team will be without the services of Mohsin Khan this year and that would definitely hurt their bowling plans. The return of Wood is a good news but the bowler is on a comeback trail and whether he would be as effective as he was before his injury remains to be seen. Also, while much more would be expected out of the big buy Pooran, the batter hasn’t been extremely successful in the league. If he comes into his own this year, the team would be happy. But if he doesn’t, the team might not have too many replacement options on the bench.

Lucknow Super Giants Team in Indian T20 League 2023

Lucknow Super Giants were one of the two new teams in last year’s Indian T20 League and while they were not able to do what the other new team did, they did put up a good show for a team playing its first season. The captaincy was given to KL Rahul ahead of the season and players like Ravi Bishnoi and Marcus Stoinis were roped in before the auction. The team that was assembled at the auction under the watchful guidance of mentor Gautam Gambhir and coach Andy Flower got mixed reactions and the team even began their Indian T20 League campaign with a loss to fellow newbies Gujarat. Post that though, things picked up for the franchise. For the longest time in the season, they seemed ready to secure the second position on the points table before a late stutter in the group stages meant that they finished third. What that did was that it pit them against Bangalore in the eliminator.

In the eliminator, the team was taken down by a special individual performance of Bangalore’s Rajat Patidar and that brought an end to a campaign that would be called largely successful. The team had a few pieces of the jigsaw puzzle missing and they sat down at the auctions to build a team that can possibly go a couple of steps further this time and lift the trophy. They broke the bank to acquire the services of the West Indian batter Nicholas Pooran who was bought for 16 crores despite a below par year in the shortest format in the last year. They also got Romario Shepherd and Daniel Sams for paltry sums of money and even extended Indian T20 League veteran Amit Mishra’s career a new lease of life by getting his services for a small sum of money. One news that would make the fans of Lucknow Super Giants extremely happy would be the return of English pacer Mark Wood to the squad. Wood was one of the marquee names bought by the side ahead of the last year’s Indian T20 League, but injury prevented his participation. However, the Englishman is fit and raring to go and would trouble the batters with his sheer pace for sure. The team, however, would miss the services of last year’s sensation Mohsin Khan who has not recovered yet from his injury and has been sidelined for the entire 2023 season.