IPL 2022: Lucknow Franchise Approaches Ashish Nehra, Gary Kirsten For Coaching Roles - Reports

The newly added Lucknow Franchise has reportedly approached former Team India World Cup-winning head coach, Gary Kirsten, and former left-arm fast bowler, Ashish Nehra, to join the coaching staff for next year’s IPL 2022 season.

The RPSG Group has contacted Nehra and Kirsten, both of whom were part of India’s 2011 ODI World Cup-winning squad. While the specifics are yet to be ironed out, the duo was approached to take on the roles of the head coach and the consultant.

A final decision is yet to be taken but it is understood by Cricbuzz that the parties are bound by a confidentiality clause that denies permission to reveal the matter to the public. The RPSG group had previously participated in two seasons, 2016 and 2017, with MS Dhoni as the skipper but they were removed from the subsequent editions.

As for the participation of the Lucknow franchise in the IPL 2022 season, things are continuously being worked on between BCCI and the Sanjiv Goenka-led group. The Letter of Intent has already been submitted to the RPSG Group, indicating that things are moving forward.

IPL 2022 retention policies revealed

The eight existing franchisees will be allowed to retain a maximum of four players. Each team will have an estimated purse of INR 90 crores, five more than the IPL 2021 auction purse. The rules haven’t been officially announced but they have been internally discussed between the franchises and the board.

Each of the eight franchises can retain three Indians and one overseas player or two Indians and two overseas players. It doesn’t matter whether the Indian player is capped or uncapped and the franchise can pick and choose anybody from its squad to retain.

There is no Right to Match (RTM) cards at this year’s mega auction. The two new teams, Lucknow and Ahmedabad will be allowed to select two Indian players and one overseas right at the beginning. Whether this needs to be from the players not retained by franchises or the entire auction pool is yet to be announced.

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