Nicholas Pooran, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi along with the uncapped pair of Mohsin Khan and Ayush Badoni are set to be retained by Lucknow Super Giants for IPL 2025.
With KL Rahul, who has led the franchise since its inception in 2022, unlikely to be retained barring any last-minute change of mind from both parties, LSG will have one right-to-match (RTM) card at the auction.
The exact amount the five players have been signed up for is not yet known, but based on the retention slabs put in place by IPL, INR 51 crore will be deducted from LSG's purse. In case aggregate sum paid to the five exceeds 51 crore, then the higher number will be deducted from the INR 120 crore purse each franchise has been given to build their squads for IPL 2025.
It is understood that Pooran will be the top retention followed by Mayank and Bishnoi. In 2024, Pooran was just behind Rahul on the run-charts and he also was the interim captain-cum-wicketkeeper during the first half after Rahul sat out due to a niggle.
Considered one of the best power-hitters in the game, Pooran, 29, was bought by LSG ahead of the 2023 season for INR 16 crore (USD 1.927 million approx). Pooran's price tag has continued to soar since his maiden IPL season in 2017 when Mumbai Indians bought him for INR 30 lakhs. Two years later, Punjab Kings bought him for INR 4.2 crore ($575,000 approx). At the 2022 mega auction, Sunrisers Hyderabad paid INR 10.75 crore ($1.433 million approx then) before releasing him a season later.
Mayank picked up two Player-of-the-Match awards in his first two IPL matches clocking 150-plus kph deliveries in 2024. While a side strain restricted him to play just four matches, the national selectors quickly added him to the list of quicks handed fast-bowling contracts. Bought by LSG for INR 20 lakhs in the 2024 auction, Mayank has only played seven matches, all T20s: four in the IPL followed by his international debut in the T20 series against Bangladesh recently. Mayank is currently at the BCCI's newly opened Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
Bishnoi was one of the three players LSG picked ahead of the mega auction before IPL 2022 for INR 4 crore, as he was then an uncapped player. In 2022, when LSG made the playoffs, Bishnoi picked up 13 wickets at 8.44. A year later, now an international, Bishnoi was 13th on the list of leading wicket-takers, with 16 wickets at 7.74 and played a role in LSG reaching the playoffs once again. Last season, though, he picked up only 10 wickets in 14 matches at 8.77.
Badoni and Mohsin, both uncapped and bought for INR 20 lakhs each in the 2022 auction, have been integral to LSG's success. An aggressive middle-order batter, Badoni's best season came in 2023 when he made 238 runs at a strike rate of 138 in 12 innings. He recently also played in the Emerging Series for India A.
Mohsin, the 6'3" left-arm fast bowler from Uttar Pradesh, impressed straightaway in his maiden IPL season in 2022. He picked up 14 wickets at a sub-6 economy in just nine matches which made him one of the potential candidates for the T20 World Cup later that year. He was not considered due to a career-threatening injury where he nearly lost an arm. Mohsin, however, bounced back playing in the second half of the 2023 season and finished 2024 with 10 wickets in 10 matches.