Lucknow franchise IPL 2022 picks up KL Rahul, Stoinis and Bishnoi

The Lucknow IPL franchise has signed three players for 2022, including KL Rahul, who will captain India in the ODI series against South Africa. Marcus Stoinis, an Australian allrounder, and Ravi Bishnoi, an uncapped Indian leg spinner, are the other two players.

According to ESPNcricinfo, the Lucknow franchise would enter the February auction with a budget of INR 60 crore, including INR 15 crore for Rahul, INR 11 crore for Stoinis, and INR 4 crore for Bishnoi. Rahul will also serve as the franchise's captain, according to reports.

Rahul, 29, was the first player signed by the RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, which purchased the Lucknow franchise for INR 7090 crore (about USD 940 million) last October. Since the 2018 IPL, Rahul has been one of the most reliable batters in the league. He had previously told his former organization, Punjab Kings, where he had been captaining for the previous two seasons, that he needed a change, and was consequently discharged by the management.

Marcus Stoinis will play in his fourth IPL season in Lucknow. He began his career with the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2015, and he was back to the team in 2020 after being purchased for INR 4.8 crore. Stoinis, 32, has played 27 games for the Capitals, scoring 441 runs at a strike rate of 142.71 and taking 15 wickets. Meanwhile, he had also played for Punjab and RCB.

Bishnoi was one of the most sought-after uncapped players ahead of this year's IPL auction, with several franchises indicating great interest in him after his success in the 2020 Under-19 World Cup in South Africa, where he ended as the leading wicket-taker. Punjab was one of them, having won a bidding war for him alongside Mumbai Indians in the 2020 auction for INR 2 crore. Bishnoi soon established himself as Punjab's primary spinner, taking 12 wickets in 14 matches during his first season and 12 wickets in 9 matches in 2021. He has a 6.95 economy rate overall.