New Delhi: Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul and all-rounder Krunal Pandya featured for a chat on Star Sports and revealed the reason behind spending Rs 16 crore on Nicholas Pooran in the auctions. Rahul mentioned Pooran’s explosive skills and finishing ability in the middle order to justify the price tag.
KL Rahul said that this year they needed someone in the middle order with explosive and some finishing skills so the team management went for Nicholas Pooran. Talking about the auctions, the skipper added that team owner Sanjiv Goenka, coach Gautam Gambhir and the support staff tried and build a team of players who put the team first and can contribute in two departments.
“We want to pick players who put their team first” ?
– .@klrahul on how they’ve built their squad for season 2@LucknowIPL
Tune-in to #CSKvLSG on #IPLonStar
Today | Pre-show at 6 PM & LIVE action at 7:30 PM | Star Sports Network#ShorOn #GameOn #BetterTogether #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/Jeh5hNmXIh— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 3, 2023
Pooran has played 47 IPL games and has scored 912 runs. With a price tag of Rs 16 crore, he is the most expensive wicket-keeper in the history of the tournament, however, with Rahul in the team, Pooran will not be keeping the wickets. He played a crucial cameo in the campaign opener for LSG against DC and scored 36 off 21, hitting 2 fours and 3 sixes.
During the chat, Rahul also said that successful franchises are filled with all-rounders, so they retained Stoinis and got Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder and Deepak Hooda on their side. He mentioned that they will have to play aggressive and fearless cricket and see what works for them. On learnings from the last season, he said that if the momentum is with you, go fearless rather than being complacent.
LSG will face Chennai Super Kings in Chepauk on April 3 at 7:30 pm. While CSK has the home advantage, Kyle Mayers and Mark Wood have shown that they can win games single-handedly for LSG.
