Last 12 months’s debutants, LSG, led by Rahul, completed third within the league stage with 9 wins and 5 defeats. LSG knocked out of the competitors after dropping to Royal Challengers Bangalore within the eliminator at Kolkata.
“The big strength of the Lucknow Super Giants is their opening combination, KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock. They complement each other so well. They are very different players, and their strengths and weaknesses offset each other. So, I think if they are going to have a big season.”
“I think the home ground advantage for the Lucknow Super Giants this year, although their wicket has been a little unpredictable at times, they’ve got a class opening combination in KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock, their middle order power of Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, and they’ve got a lot of bowling options, Krunal Pandya with the ball, who can also be versatile with the bat. So, I think they have got a lot of options to be able to exploit whatever the wicket produces,” mentioned Finch on the ‘Know Your Team’ present on Star Sports.
De Kock will miss Lucknow’s first two matches towards Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings on April 1 and three respectively as South Africa will probably be taking part in an ODI collection towards the Netherlands.
Finch additionally feels West Indies’ left-handed batter Nicholas Pooran will probably be a game-changer for the aspect within the match whereas calling Deepak Hooda an X-factor participant.
In the mini-auction held final 12 months, Pooran was picked by Lucknow for a whopping Rs 16 crore and may very well be the finisher-cum-wicketkeeper for the aspect. Hooda, the off-spin all-rounder, had an excellent IPL 2022, making 451 runs at a strike fee of 136.66, largely whereas batting at quantity three and was within the prime ten run-scorers checklist.
He’s additionally been a continuing presence in India’s white-ball squads. In June final 12 months, he scored a T20I century for India from the quantity three place towards Ireland. Later, towards the West Indies, Hooda illustrated his tight, stump-to-stump line off-spin bowling, which got here in very helpful in the course of the ODI and T20I collection.
After being in India’s squad for the Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia final 12 months, Hooda was additionally in India’s squads for T20Is towards Sri Lanka and New Zealand at residence earlier this 12 months.
“They’ve spent a lot of money to get him in the auction. He wasn’t at his best last season, but we know how destructive he can be. He’s someone who strikes it at such a high strike rate, particularly early in his innings. So, for me, he is the player to watch out for.”
“The X-factor for me this season for Lucknow I see is Deepak Hooda. He’s someone who has taken the responsibility of batting at number 3. He’s someone who strikes at a good strike rate, particularly in the first 10 balls. He continues to keep being aggressive. If he can bat for longer periods while being aggressive, that will set up that middle and lower order to be at their destructive best,” he added.
(With IANS inputs)
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com