IPL 2023 Auction: 3 Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Players Rajasthan Royals (RR) Can Target

IPL 2023 Auction: 3 Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Players Rajasthan Royals (RR) Can Target.  Rajasthan Royals had a memorable campaign during the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League 2022. They meant business from the very first game and finished second at the end of the group stage with nine wins in 14 games.

Sanju Samson & co. conquered Royal Challengers Bangalore in the second qualifier to reach the Final but failed to recreate history as they lost the summit clash to Gujarat Titans.

Jos Buttler and Yuzvendra Chahal led Rajasthan’s charge in the IPL 2022 season and were the winners of the Orange Cap and Purple Cap respectively. The think tank had done a pretty good job at the mega auction 2022 to assemble a quality squad and it clearly paid dividends.

Rajasthan Royals were the first-ever champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) way back in 2008, but after winning the inaugural season of the league, they lost their way for a long time and struggled to even make it to the playoffs consistently in the last decade.

However, during the last IPL 2022, after assembling a new team in the mega auction, Rajasthan Royals showed the old spark again under the captaincy of Sanju Samson and they made it to the final of the tournament before losing against the Gujarat Titans.

Ahead of the next IPL 2023 mini-auction, which will be held in mid-December, Rajasthan Royals might retain most of their players from the last year’s squad. Rajasthan Royals might release the likes of Rassie Van Der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell, Navdeep Saini, Karun Nair and Obed McCoy.

Lucknow Super Giants were one of the two new franchises that made their debut in IPL 2022. The Lucknow-based franchise became the first one to represent Uttar Pradesh in the Indian Premier League. KL Rahul was named the captain of the team. The team management formed a stellar squad at the IPL 2022 mega auction.

As expected, LSG made it to the playoffs in their debut season, but they could not win the title. Lucknow finished third on the points table, meaning they had to play in the Eliminator match.

Royal Challengers Bangalore knocked them out of the competition by defeating them in the Eliminator match. Lucknow Super Giants may release Indian batter Manish Pandey, Australian fast bowler Andrew Tye, and Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis because of his hefty price tag ahead of IPL 2023.

IPL 2023 Auction: 3 Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Players Rajasthan Royals (RR) Can Target

Manish Pandey

It took one spectacular innings to thrust Manish Pandey into the limelight. A flamboyant right-hand top-order batsman, Manish Pandey scored an unbeaten 114 for the Royal Challengers Bangalore against the now-defunct Deccan Chargers in IPL 2009. He became the first Indian to score a ton in the IPL.

33-year-old Manish Pandey had a terrible outing in IPL 2022, scoring only 88 runs in 6 games averaging 14.67 for Lucknow Super Giants and if released, he could be acquired by Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2023.

Marcus Stoinis

Marcus Stoinis donned the LSG colors after the franchise picked him ahead of the TATA IPL 2022 auction. Hailing from Western Australia, Marcus Stoinis, lived up to the expectations and impressed one and all with his all-round display in the two seasons- IPL 2020 and IPL 2021, scoring 441 runs and 15 wickets for Delhi Capitals.

His best season came in IPL 2020 where he amassed 352 runs averaging 25.14 at a strike rate of 148.52 in 17 IPL games. He also picked up his most scalps-13 in a single season in IPL 2020. So far, he has scored 1070 runs and taken 34 scalps in 67 IPL games.  He may be acquired by Rajasthan Royals to join the likes of all-rounders like Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Ravichandran Ashwin and Riyan Parag in their IPL 2023 squad.

Krunal Pandya

The Pandya brothers (Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya) won three IPL titles together at the Mumbai Indians and were a vital cog in their wheels.  Krunal Pandya hit the winning runs in the 2020 season that gave Mumbai Indians their fifth title.

While he is no longer with Mumbai Indians after being bought by Lucknow Super Giants-LSG for INR 8.25 Crore, he remained a valuable member for the new IPL entrant as he scored 183 runs and also took 10 scalps in 14 games. If he’s released by Lucknow, he may be acquired by Rajasthan Royals for IPL 2023. He will be on Rajasthan’s radar in IPL 2023.