To solidify the link with their former franchise Rising Pune Supergiant, the RPSG Group, headed by Sanjiv Goenka, chose the name of the Lucknow-based franchise, despite claiming it was decided after a fans’ poll. But before that, they contracted Andy Flower and Gautam Gambhir as the head coach and the mentor respectively to lead their backroom staff with their expertise and experience.

Unfortunately, Wood will miss IPL 2022 after injuring his right elbow earlier this month during England’s tour of the West Indies. Lucknow, as Wood’s replacement, then brought in Australia’s Andrew Tye. Despite the setback, the debutant franchise still has one of the strongest squads amongst the ten.

KL Rahul (c),  Quinton de Kock (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi, Manish Pandey, Jason Holder, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Avesh Khan, Ankit Singh Rajpoot, K Gowtham, Dushmantha Chameera, Shahbaz Nadeem, Manan Vohra, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Kyle Mayers, Karan Sharma, Evin Lewis, Mayank Yadav, Andrew Tye.

Explosive openers

Considering de Kock’s calibre, it was smart business from Lucknow to get him at INR 6.25 crore. The 29-year-old South African batter did not have a memorable IPL 2021 with MI, aggregating a mere 297 runs in 11 outings at a questionable strike rate of 116.01, and will be desperately looking to regain confidence.

Lucknow played a gamble by signing Manish Pandey, the first Indian to hit a century in IPL (in 2009), for INR 4.6 crore. The 32-year-old Karnataka-born cricketer was an IPL sensation once, but had not been at his fluent best in the last few seasons for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Despite scoring runs more often than not, he has often been criticised due to his strike rate. Still, Manish, a veteran of aggregating more than 3,500 IPL runs, will be preferred as Lucknow’s No. 3. However, if they go with an aggressive approach, Stoinis can bat at that position as well, mainly because of his astounding repertoire of shots. If that happens, Manish will be demoted as a No. 4, and Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya – who had a not-so-memorable off-field controversy while playing for Baroda last year – will follow him.

Fragile bowling attack

Despite having the presence of Avesh and Bishnoi, Lucknow’s bowling attack does not seem as lethal as they would have hoped.  Avesh, 25, had a breakthrough season with Delhi Capitals (DC) last year, when he snared 24 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 7.37, averaging 18.75. Now, time will tell whether he was a one-season wonder or here to stay, but fair to say, he does not have potent pacers around him like he used to have at DC.

Bishnoi at INR 4 crore, without a doubt, was a steal by Lucknow. The 21-year-old leg-spinner from Jodhpur has often been called one of the next big things in Indian cricket. So far in two IPL seasons, Bishnoi has picked up 24 wickets (in 23 games) at an economy of under seven. Since taking 11 wickets in IPL 2018, Krishnappa Gowtham has made little impact in the tournament. Considering his ability as a handy batter lower down the order, he is likely to be Bishnoi’s spin partner. Similarly, Tye’s best IPL season came in 2018 as well, when he scalped 24 wickets in 14 matches for Punjab earning himself a Purple Cap at the end of the tournament. 

Notably, Lucknow may opt for the Sri Lankan spearhead Dushmantha Chameera ahead of Tye, but it would not make them look more lethal.

Lucknow does have a bunch of Indians who have been known faces to almost every cricket fan. They are pooled into Group A, alongside Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, and Delhi Capitals, and it will not be an easy task for them to get a place in the Playoffs. But on paper, they have built a squad that can surely challenge their opponents with an idiosyncratic method.