With the 17-crores signing, the Vice-Captain of India national cricket team in ODI and T20I, KL Rahul becomes the joint-highest-paid player in the history of IPL along with Virat Kohli.
Putting an end to all the stirring speculations, KL Rahul is officially all set to lead the Lucknow IPL franchise in the upcoming cricket carnival. Apart from KL Rahul, the Lucknow team also picked Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi ahead of the mega-auction of the Indian Premier League 2022. This announcement was made by Dr Sanjiv Goenka- the chairman of Lucknow team’s parent company on the show IPL: Selection Day.
Rahul becomes the joint highest-paid player of IPL
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While announcing the final drafts before the auction, Dr. Goenka said, “Player number one is KL Rahul, we are going to pay him Rs 17 crore. Player number two is Marcus Stoinis, we are going to pay him Rs 9.2 crore. Player number three is the very young, very talented, Ravi Bishnoi, we are going to pay him Rs 4 crore.”
With the 17-crores signing, the Vice-Captain of India national cricket team in ODI and T20I becomes the joint-highest-paid player in the history of IPL along with Virat Kohli.
Impressed by KL’s abilities: Dr. Goenka
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Talking about his expectations from KL Rahul, the chairman of RPSG Group said that the batsman is sure to emerge as a phenomenal leader of the team. According to the business tycoon, the 29-year-old player has ‘everything it takes to succeed’ which is why he was chosen as the captain of the Lucknow IPL team.
“Yes, KL will be the captain. I have been very impressed by KL’s not only batting and wicketkeeping abilities but his leadership skills. He is evolving, he is growing, he is maturing as a player, as a leader and he is somebody I would’ve wanted to lead the team. And I do believe, given the right atmosphere, given the right environment, he will emerge as a phenomenal leader, and he has everything it takes to succeed,” added Dr. Goenka.
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According to Dr. Goenka, the idea behind picking Rahul, Stoinis and Bishnoi was to lay a strong foundation for the team with an eye on the future. The other important factor in these selections was that all these players are multi-faceted as well. With great confidence in the selection roped in, he said, “We are confident that these three picks will propel our team, lay the foundation of the team, to compete not only in the season for 2022, but seasons beyond. I am delighted to have these three signings.”
“So, KL is not only an outstanding batsman, he’s a great wicketkeeper. Marcus is a great finisher, a good bowler, and a phenomenal fielder. Ravi brings a unique dimension to the spin department and is an exceptional fielder. So, we looked for players, who could do more than just one thing; players who would be with the franchise for several years – three, four, five, six, seven, eight years. And KL is in the batting department, Marcus is an all-rounder and Ravi is a bowler, so we have tried to cover all the three departments,” said Dr. Sanjiv Goenka.
IPL to become a 10-team affair now
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Before picking the trio, the Lucknow franchise had already revealed its coaching board which included Andy Flower, Gautam Gambhir and Vijay Dahiya. While the former England coach Flower is appointed as the head coach of the team, former India opener and two-time IPL winning captain Gambhir has been roped in as the mentor of the Lucknow IPL team. Notably, with Lucknow and Ahemdabad making their debut this year, the carnival of cricket- IPL, will be turned into a 10-team affair starting this season.
-with inputs from IANS.
