IPL Auction | Lucknow Super Giants seek to infuse clarity with 23 crores in young, confused, and enigmatic squad

Lucknow Super Giants are almost inarguably the worst-run team in the Indian Premier League at present. Just three years ago, the franchise chose KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, and Ravi Bishnoi as the pillars of the new organization -- none of them are a part of the squad anymore. Two of them have enjoyed brilliant runs with their new teams, and the third has been released this year after yet another poor season. LSG have tried to compensate the marquee departure by trading in Mohammed Shami for a magnanimous 10 crores, which further spotlights their philosophy of names over need. The acquisition of Arjun Tendulkar for 30 lakhs simply speaks for itself. All that activity has left them with INR 22.95 crores to spend at the auction, with six slots to fill, of which up to four can be overseas picks. Boasting the fourth-highest purse behind Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, and Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Super Giants find themselves with plenty of holes to fill if they are to seriously contend in 2026. The squad seems to be a reflection of the franchise itself -- young, confused, and full of potential, capable of setting the world alight but without a spark to fuel the fire. Let's look at how they can change that at the upcoming mini-auction in Abu Dhabi.

Top order

1 Aiden Makram✈️ 2 Mitchell Marsh ✈️ 3 Rishabh Pant

Backup(s): Matthew Breetzke, Arshin Kulkarni

The LSG top-three should be no problem, at least to begin with. Both Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram enjoyed their best IPL seasons last year, smashing 627 and 445 runs respectively at healthy strike rates, and seemed to be the only ones keeping the team's chances afloat throughout the campaign. As if to make up for it, Rishabh Pant endured a campaign worse than any 27-crore buy could have ever imagined. Keep his closing century in the dead rubber aside, and Pant averaged 13 through the season while striking at 107. The funny thing is, Pant is pretty much guaranteed to have an exponentially better season, the same way Marsh and Markram are sure bets to suffer a cumulative decline. However, even if the opening duo manage substantially good seasons, the Pant boost will be enough to make LSG a real powerhouse.

As for backups, LSG do not need to look beyond Matthew Breetzke. He has shown shades of brilliance for their sister Durban franchise in the SA20, had a brilliant Vitality Blast in the UK, and averages 64 after 12 ODIs, including impressive showings in India recently. If LSG are forced to field an Indian opener at some stage, then in Arshin Kulkarni, they have a player who has both opened the batting and bowling for Maharashtra this season in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, scoring 225 runs and scalping two wickets at an economy of 9.20.

Possible target(s): -

Middle order

4 Nicholas Pooran✈️ 5 Ayush Badoni 6 To be picked 7 Abdul Samad 8 To be picked

Backup(s): Shahbaz Ahmed, Himmat Singh, Arjun Tendulkar

524 runs with five fifties, averaging 43.66 and striking at 196.25, Nicholas Pooran is as big as IPL superstars get. In Ayush Badoni, they have another 360 player with the potential of reaching dizzying heights, as he continues to impress in the SMAT after another brilliant Delhi Premier League campaign. The top five are thus locked in for LSG, and this is where the good news ends.

The departure of David Miller has left a big hole in their middle-order, which was a definite problem area last season. Abdul Samad at seven can provide big blows later on as he showcased last season and for SRH in the campaign before, but the team still needs a stablizing hand with the ability to switch gears, given Badoni is not a guaranteed performer yet. Theoretically, both Samad and Badoni are all-rounders, but neither has done it at the IPL level, which means the two remaining slots in the middle-order need to be filled by two-way players. Again, Shahbaz Ahmed and Arjun Tendulkar are domestic all-rounders who have not managed to break into IPL XIs regularly enough, which is unlikely to change in 2026.

Fortunately, a large -- one might even say too large -- Indian bowling contingent allows them the luxury to field their fourth overseas player in the middle-order following Marsh, Markram, and Pooran. Unfortunately, the options are limited. Numero uno is likely to be Liam Livingstone, but CSK will feel buoyant about their chances with nearly double the purse than that of LSG. The next-best in the market is Wanindu Hasaranga, who seems bound to be LSG's primary target across domains, given a lack of options in the spin department. Other options include if they want seam reinforcements instead, which is unlikely but ever beyond LSG's imagination, then Kyle Jamieson and Jason Holder are names that stick out. In the Indian market, Abhinav Manohar is an experienced lower middle-order batter for the offing, having been released by SRH. Whichever route LSG takes, expect a major chunk of their purse to be spent on reinforcing the middle-order.

Possible target(s): Liam Livingstone, Wanindu Hasaranga, Sikandar Raza, Michael Bracewell, Kyle Jamieson, Jason Holder, Abhinav Manohar

Bowling Unit

9 Mayank Yadav 10 Avesh Khan 11 Mohammed Shami 12 Digvesh Rathi

Backup(s): Mohsin Khan, Prince Yadav, Akash Singh, Manimaran Siddharth

Where do I begin? Last year, Lucknow Super Giants had the worst powerplay and middle-overs economy by far, the second-least and third-least wickets in the phase respectively, as well as the third worst economy in the death of 11.2. The franchise has responded by offloading Bishnoi and roping in Shami as earlier discussed, but that is the extent of their changes. They have still retained Mayank Yadav and Mohsin Khan for a combined 15 crores despite the duo practically missing the entirety of last season with injury, despite impressive performances from backups Prince Yadav and Akash Singh, who are also still part of the squad. The only incumbent who is secure of his place is Avesh Khan, given he provides sufficient cover-up in the death as well as wields the new ball to good effect.

Lucknow thus finds itself in the hugely unique position of having no foreign seamers at hand, having let go of Will O'Rourke and Shamar Joseph, as well as no foreign spinners, with Digvesh Rathi and Manimaran Siddharth making up the contingent. All in all, the franchise just needs to figure out the right combination of four amongst the eight options they have, and splurging much more money in the department definitely seems surplus to requirements. Perhaps an all-format overseas quick such as Lungi Ngidi, Mustafizur Rahman, or Anrich Nortje could do them good, but it remains to be seen what their budget allows after they have prioritised the all-rounder slot. Truth be told, it seems Lucknow have made their bed by banking on potential, and can only pray that Digvesh does not suffer from the second-season syndrome, Shami returns to Purple Cap form despite a topsy-turvy SMAT campaign, and most importantly, either Mayank or Mohsin finally fulfil their destiny after repeated investments over the past three years. 

Possible target(s): Mustafizur Rahman, Lungi Ngidi, Anrick Nortje, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Matt Henry