IPL 2022: KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi set to join Lucknow franchise

KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi are set to join the Lucknow franchise of the Indian Premier League ahead of the 15th edition of the tournament, which will be preceded by a mega auction on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru.

It is learnt that Rahul has been earmarked as Player 1 by the franchise and will be therefore paid INR 15 crore in accordance with the established fees slab. Stoinis, who has been picked as Player 2, will receive INR 11 crore, and uncapped Ravi Bishnoi INR 4 crore, leaving the franchise with an INR 60 crore purse for the mega auction.

There was plenty of speculation regarding Rahul tying up with the Lucknow franchise, which was bought for a whopping INR 7090 crore at a walk-in bidding event in Dubai in October 2021 by the RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, a Kolkata-based multinational conglomerate company.

Rahul, who led Punjab Kings in the previous two seasons, was released by the franchise after he expressed his desire to change the team. The Kings have finished at an identical 6th spot in the tournament in each one of the last four editions, although they were led by Rahul in only two – 2020 and 2021.

While his captaincy stint did not reap much success, Rahul has been one of the league’s most prolific run-scorers as he claimed the Orange Cap for scoring most runs in 2020, while he ended as the third-leading run-getter in 2021.

The Karnataka player made his IPL debut with the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2013 before going to Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014. He was then traded back to RCB in 2016 before being roped in by Punjab Kings (formerly Kings XI Punjab) in the 2018 auction.

Stoinis, who started his IPL career with Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2015, has also been a part of the Punjab and Bangalore franchises in the past, with Lucknow set to be his fourth IPL franchise.

As for Bishnoi, who grabbed the spotlight with a chart-topping bowling performance at the 2020 U19 World Cup, the spinner has risen the ranks impressively. He was bagged by Punjab in 2020 for INR 2 crore, and he impressed instantly with a 12-wicket tally in his debut season. In 2021, Bishnoi had an identical wickets tally, albeit in nine games as opposed to 14 in the previous edition.

Meanwhile, Lucknow’s fellow new franchise Ahmedabad have also named their three-player roster, picking up Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill.