IPL 2022: Analysing KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants' buys and team post mega auction

The 2022 IPL Mega Auction is done and dusted. The ten participating teams have built their best possible squad. We take a look and rank the signing and the team of Lucknow Super Giants.

It turned out to be a spectacular outing for all the ten teams in the IPL 2022 Mega Auction, held at the ITC Gardenia Hotel in Bengaluru over the weekend. The two-day event saw all the teams engaging in fierce bidding wars to rope in their best players and shape their sides most competitively. The event was notable for a couple of new teams joining: Gujarat Titans (GT) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Here, we analyse the latter's team, besides rating every department.

Batters
As for the batting department, the side possesses just three batters, namely Manish Pandey (₹4.60 crore), Manan Vohra (₹20 lakh) and Evin Lewis (₹2 cr). Pandey happens to be a decent signing as he is a Twenty20 (T20) specialist. However, his form might not be as consistent of late. As for Lewis, he has also been struggling for form, the reason why he was owned just for his base price, whereas Vohra happens to be a backup signing.
Rating: 5/10

Wicketkeepers
The wicketkeeping department happens to possess a couple of giants: KL Rahul (₹17 cr) and Quinton de Kock (₹6.75 cr). While Rahul has been in a deadly form in the shortest format, so has been de Kock, with both ruling Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Mumbai Indians (MI) respectively in the past couple of seasons. No wonder both will have a vital role to play for the side in the seasons to come.
Rating: 9/10

All-rounders
LSG has conspicuously invested heavily in all-rounders. It was a formula identified by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) under Gautam Gambhir, and the latter, being a mentor of LSG now, is doing the same. The department consists of Marcus Stoinis (₹9.2 cr), Jason Holder (₹8.75 cr), Deepak Hooda (₹5.75 cr), Krunal Pandya (₹8.25 cr), K Gowtham (₹90 lakh), Ayush Badoni (₹20 lakh), Kyle Mayers (₹50 lakh) and Karan Sharma (₹20 lakh).

Stoinis happens to be a great addition, given his consistent form, along with Holder and Hooda. Krunal will also be a regular lad, given his exemplary skills. As for the latter ones, they are mere backups.
Rating: 7/10

Spinners
The department has a couple of names: Ravi Bishnoi (₹4 cr) and Shahbaz Nadeem (₹50 lakh). Bishnoi has been on the rise since last season, and this will be his breakthrough season, considering that he is in contention for Team India. While Nadeem will mainly be a backup, regular chances will also help him revive his form for the longer format.
Rating: 6/10

Pacers
This department is heavily loaded with superstars in the form of Avesh Khan (₹10 cr), Mark Wood (₹7.50 cr), Ankit Singh Rajpoot (₹50 lakh), Dushmanta Chameera (₹2 cr), Mohsin Khan (₹20 lakh) and Mayank Yadav (₹20 lakh). Avesh was pivotal for Delhi Capitals (DC) last season, leading to him drawing big bucks, while Mark Wood's inclusion comes as a surprise, given that he has been on the verge of reviving his T20 career. Also, Chameera has had average T20 stints of late, as he will be the second preferred choice.
Rating: 7/10

Overall
Taking into consideration the entire team, it has built an honourable squad. With Rahul leading, he can rightfully say that he has a better crew comparatively than he had in PBKS. Although the batting and spin department looks a tide empty, it would be on to the all-rounders to step up their ante.
Rating: 8/10
Best XI: Rahul (c & wk), de Kock (wk), Lewis, Hooda, Stoinis, Krunal, Pandey, Bishnoi, Avesh, Rajpoot, Wood.