The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have retained five players ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction scheduled for late next month

The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have retained five players ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction scheduled for late next month.

With the newly-inducted franchise unlikely to keep their captain and star India player KL Rahul following several discussions between all parties concerned, LSG decided on retaining Nicholas Pooran, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi and two uncapped Indian players Mohsin Khan and Ayush Badoni, leaving them with an option of Right to Match (RTM) card at the auction.

With the retention deadline (Oct 31) fast approaching, all ten participating teams are bound to submit their final list before that.

After SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), LSG became the second team to submit their list.

Unlike SRH, which made the retention cost for each player public, the exact amount of five players signed up by LSG remains unknown.

However, based on the retention slabs outlined by the IPL, INR 51 crore will be deducted from LSG’s auction purse.

If the total amount paid to these five players exceeds this, more money will be deducted from the INR 120 crore purse allotted to all ten teams.

As reported by ESPNcricinfo, Pooran would be LSG’s first choice, followed by Mayank and Bishnoi.

The left-handed batter was LSG’s second-highest run-scorer the past season behind KL Rahul and also kept wickets in Rahul's absence, who was out with a niggle.

Considered the best T20 batter at present, Pooran remains LSG’s mainstay for the next season. Since being picked for just INR 30 lakhs by Mumbai Indians (in 2017), Pooran’s price tag has continued to soar.

While Punjab Kings bought him for INR 4.2 crore ($575,000 approx.) in 2019, for whom he made his IPL debut, SRH bagged his services for INR 10.75 crore ($1.433 million approx.) at the next mega auction in 2022, though they released him the following season.

In 2023, LSG bought Pooran for a whooping INR 16 crore (USD 1.927 million approx.), with his price likely to steep ahead of the upcoming mega auction.

Indian players at LSG
While Mayank Yadav, picked for INR 20 lakh at the IPL 2024 auction, made headlines for throwing rockets at over 150 kmph and winning the Player of the Match award in his first two matches for bagging three wickets in each game, Bishnoi joined LSG in IPL 2022 after they picked him INR 4 crore.

Besides, Badoni and Mohsin, bought for INR 20 lakh each at the IPL 2022 auction, have been integral to their rise in the cash-rich league. 

While Badoni is an aggressive middle-order player, known for his clean striking, the lanky left-arm seamer Mohsin impressed everyone in his maiden season for LSG, picking 14 wickets in nine contested matches.