IPL 2022 Auction: Predicting Lucknow squad ahead of marquee tournament

With less than a month to go until the IPL 2022 Auction, all eyes are on the new franchises, Lucknow and Ahmedabad, to see the type of roster they will assemble when the players go under the hammer.

Lucknow has already made some big buys ahead of the marquee tournament. KL Rahul has been chosen to lead the side with Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi set to play crucial roles in the side.

What this essentially does is put them on par with teams that have made some wise choices. The side will now look to have a couple of backup openers, while also building a team that makes them bonafide title contenders.

Ahead of the upcoming IPL 2022 Auction, we took a shot at predicting the squad the side can build with the INR 60 Cr purse they head into the auction with.

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#1 Predicting the players the side will buy during the IPL 2022 Auction

KL Rahul (15 Cr) is their standard mega buy with Marcus Stoinis coming in at INR 11 Cr. Ravi Bishnoi at INR 4 Cr can be looked at as a steal and they will be one of the teams with a relatively better budget to splurge on during the IPL 2022 Auction.

Of the 27 players the side will have to pick (IPL 2021 had the same number of players per side. Rajasthan Royals having 29 in total), we have split the players based on their roles. Here's a quick look at the predicted squad Lucknow might assemble.

Player	Role
Ishan Kishan	Batter
Faf du Plessis	Batter
Ambati Rayudu	Batter
Shimron Hetmeyer	Batter
Steven Smith	Batter

With KL Rahul certain to take one of the opening slots, Lucknow will look to target Faf du Plessis, the former South African skipper who delivered for Chennai in IPL 2021.

Ishan Kishan, Ambati Rayudu and Steven Smith could be in their middle order while Stoinis can be seen playing the role of a finisher. Up next, we take a look at the pacers the side might acquire.

Player	Role
T Natarajan	Bowler
Sandeep Sharma	Bowler
Trent Boult	Bowler
Lockie Ferguson	Bowler
Harshal Patel	Bowler

Moving on to the all-rounders:

Player	Role
Sam Curran	All-rounder
Jason Holder	All-rounder
Shakib Al Hasan	All-rounder
Mohammad Nabi	All-rounder
Suresh Raina	All-rounder

Two backup wicketkeeping options:

Player	Role
KS Bharat	WK
Wriddhiman Saha	WK

Spin bowling options:

Player	Role
Adam Zampa	Spin
Amit Mishra	Spin
Ravichandran Ashwin	Spin
Shahbaz Nadeem	Spin

What are your thoughts on the players Lucknow can bag during the auction?