Not KL Rahul: Lucknow Super Giants Complete First Signing Of IPL 2025 For Rs 18 Crore - Report

29.10.2024 - 15:37 sports.ndtv.com

Lucknow Super Kings completed their first formal signing for IPL 2025 as West Indies wicket-keeper batter Nicholas Pooran was retained by the franchise for Rs 18 crore.

According to Cricbuzz, Pooran visited the Kolkata office of the RPSG group on Tuesday to meet team owner Sanjiv Goenka and complete the formalities of his retention.

Pooran joined LSG in 2023 for a price of Rs 16 crore and media reports have suggested that he can replace KL Rahul as the captain for the 2025 season. "Pooran is committed to LSG, possesses a winning mindset, thinks deep and above all he is adaptable to the batting order and any match situation," an LSG official told Cricbuzz.

Cricbuzz further reported that Rahul will not be a part of the LSG setup anymore with Pooran being the first of their five retentions.

cricket Lucknow Super Giants IPL 2025 Ravi Bishnoi Nicholas Pooran Kl Rahul India

IPL 2025 Retention Highlights: All the 10 Indian Premier League franchises have announced their list of retained players ahead of the 2025 auction. Virat Kohli has been retained by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for Rs 21 crore but his record of fetching highest retention amount in IPL history has been broken by Heinrich Klaasen. The wicketkeeper-batter has been retained by SunRisers Hyderabad for a massive sum of Rs 23 crore, making him the costiest player ever retained in the tournament. Before this, the record was held by Kohli with a retention amount of Rs 17 crore. Notably, three major captains Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer will be entering the IPL auction. Among the other highlights was Mumbai Indians releasing Ishan Kishan and Chennai Super Kings retaining MS Dhoni as an uncapped player for Rs 4 crore. (Full List Of Retained Players)

IPL 2025 Retentions: Complete List Of Retained Players, Their Price, Remaining Purses Of All 10 Franchises

The IPL 2025 retentions are here and there were quite a few surprises in store for the fans. Three major captains - Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer - will all enter the IPL auction pool after they were not retained by Delhi Capitals, Lucknow Super Giants and defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders respectively. Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, kept their core intact by keeping all four of their superstars - Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya. Punjab Kings retained just 2 players while KKR and Sunrisers Hyderabad retained six cricketers. (IPL 2025 Retention Highlights)

Lucknow Super Giants IPL 2025 Retentions: Full List Of Players Retained And Released

KL Rahul's departure was confirmed as Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) announced their retentions ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. Instead, a whopping Rs 21 cr was awarded to West Indian batter Nicholas Pooran, who is their highest retention. Under the captaincy of KL Rahul, LSG qualified for the Playoffs in 2022 and 2023. However in 2024, they failed to reach the knockout stage. West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran has been retained as the top priority player for Rs 18 crore. The team has parted ways with KL Rahul, who will now be going under the hammer in the auctions.

IPL 2025 Retention Live Streaming Player Announcement Live Telecast: When And Where To Watch

IPL 2025 Retentions Announcement, Live Streaming: The announcement for the retained players by the franchises will be disclosed on Thursday. With a lot of big names set to be retained and several youngsters to backed, there could be some names that could bid goodbyes to their respective franchises. Each team can retain six players, out of which maximum of five can be capped and two uncapped. This can be either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) option. The auction purse for the franchises has been set at Rs 120 Crore for IPL 2025. The total salary cap will now consist of auction purse, incremental performance pay and match fees.

Star Player To Get Rs 20 Crore In IPL 2025 Retention. Not Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah

West Indies wicket-keeper batter Nicholas Pooran is all set to be retained by Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 20 crore, according to a report by Times of India. The report claimed that LSG have finalised Pooran as their first retention pick and he can become one of the costliest retentions in the history of the competition. Several media reports have already claimed that LSG will not be retaining KL Rahul but that does not make Pooran the automatic captaincy choice. According to TOI, LSG will wait for the auction to make that decision and they can also go for Rishabh Pant if he becomes available.

"Strike Rate And...": Report Makes Massive Revelation On KL Rahul Not Being Retained By LSG

KL Rahul's inability to adapt to the ever-changing dynamics of T20 batting cost him his retention at Lucknow Super Giants with the franchise opting for an alpha finisher in Nicholas Pooran as per the preferences of head coach Justin Langer and mentor Zaheer Khan. It was first reported by PTI in August that Rahul's poor strike rate could cost him his captaincy. As of now, LSG have decided to retain Pooran as their top pick along with pace sensation Mayank Yadav, leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi and Ayush Badoni (uncapped) for the upcoming IPL auctions.