‘Thankful for the opportunity’ - Naveen-ul-Haq pens down heartfelt note after being released by Lucknow Super Giants

Ahead of the much anticipated mega auction of the IPL (Indian Premier League) 2025, several franchises announced their various retentions on the deadline day. One of the franchises, Lucknow Super Giants, also announced their retention, and the name of star Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq was missing. 

LSG announced that they will be retaining the likes of Nicholas Pooran, Mayank Yadav, and Ravi Bishnoi alongside uncapped stars Mohsin Khan and Ayush Badoni, and with Naveen not being retained, the star Afghan pacer took to social media and wrote a heartfelt note about his journey with LSG.

"Thankful for the opportunity and being part of this amazing team for the past 2 seasons my best wishes will always be with everyone involved in this team in future to the management staff and the guys who were working behind the scenes and not to forget LSG brigade thank you everyone @lucknowsupergiants," Naveen-ul-Haq posted on Instagram. 

In the two seasons that Naveen-ul-Haq spent at LSG, the star pacer played 18 matches, taking 25 wickets at an economy of 9.16, and was one of the most important players for the side. 

Lucknow hope to improve with major changes

Speaking of Lucknow Super Giants, the franchise recently made a bold decision and did not retain their skipper, KL Rahul. The star Indian batter led LSG to two consecutive playoffs in 2022 and 2023. However, a subpar season in 2024 saw LSG release Rahul. 

The side’s top retention was Nicholas Pooran, and he is expected to lead the side in the IPL 2025 as well. In the previous season of the tournament, Lucknow failed to reach the knockout stage. The side finished in seventh place in the standings with seven wins and seven losses in 14 matches. Finishing with 14 points, LSG missed out on the knockouts due to an inferior net run rate, but will hope that the same will not be the case in the new season.