The Lucknow IPL franchise disclosed its three draft picks ahead of the 2022 IPL Mega Auction last night on Star Sports. In a special Tata IPL Selection Day show, the Lucknow IPL franchise named KL Rahul as their skipper. They have roped in Rahul for a whopping INR 17 crore. They have also signed Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis for INR 9.2 crore.
Many fans were surprised to see the Lucknow-based franchise spending so much for the Australian all-rounder. Two years ago during the IPL Auction, the Delhi Capitals signed the all-rounder for a whopping INR 4.8 crore. His salary has almost doubled in 2022 even though he has not performed so well in the IPL.
Commenting on the reason why the Lucknow franchise shelled out INR 9.2 crore to sign Stoinis for the 2022 season, the mentor of the franchise Gautam Gambhir said:
“Stoinis, purely from a finisher’s point of view, since we didn’t know if Ben Stokes was going to be in the auction or not. And Stoinis can bat in the middle or finish the games too.”
Lucknow’s first choice was Ben Stokes but they signed Marcus Stoinis
Many fans would know that Ben Stokes played for the Rising Pune Supergiant in the 2017 edition of the Indian Premier League. He won the MVP award that season. The owners of Rising Pune Supergiant and Lucknow franchise are the same. So the RPSG Group was keen to re-sign the England all-rounder.
However, Stokes has decided to skip IPL 2022. Since his status was not confirmed during the draft, the Lucknow franchise instead went for Marcus Stoinis. Like Stokes, Stoinis is a middle-order batter and a medium pacer. It will be interesting to see if he can justify the massive price tag. The IPL 2022 season will probably begin on March 27, 2022.
