In a major development, Sanjiv Goenka's Lucknow team has finalized the three players they’ll pick ahead of the players’ auction. As per the reports, KL Rahul, who wasn’t retained by Punjab Kings, is likely to lead the Lucknow-based team. Rashid Khan are Ishan Kishan are the other two players who’ll accompany the 29-year-old. For the unversed, the two new teams are allowed to make a maximum of three picks from the list of non-retained players ahead of the next season’s bidding event. Punjab Kings wanted to retain KL Rahul decided to part ways. The same was confirmed by team’s head coach Anil Kumble.
As far as Rashid is concerned, the Afghanistan leg-spinner reportedly wanted to be Sunrisers Hyderabad’s first retention. As the franchise owners decided to give that privilege to their skipper Kane Williamson, Rashid wasn’t retained. The Lucknow team in all probablity has also finalized their head coach for the new season. Former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower has emerged as the frontrunner to become the chief coach. Flower joined the Punjab franchise ahead of IPL 2020 and worked alongside head coach Anil Kumble for the last two seasons. The Zimbabwean great, who coached England to the T20 World Cup title in 2010 and also the number one spot in Test rankings, also is at the helm of PBKS owned franchise in CPL -- Saint Lucia Kings. Apart from Flower and Kirsten, former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori and former India pacer Ashish Nehra are also linked with the Lucknow franchise. The Goenka-led RP-SG Group had shelled out Rs 7090 crore to own the Lucknow franchise.
