The reports of Nicholas Pooran signing on the dotted line as the first retained player by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) was confirmed on Thursday when the Sanjiv Goenka-owned franchise released the list of five retained ahead of the mega auction next month.
Besides the big-hitting West Indian Pooran, there are two Indian capped players retained by LSG in the form of pace sensation Mayank Yadav and leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi. As reported, LSG skipper KL Rahul is not among the franchise's retention list.
LSG also used the option of retaining two uncapped players in the form of pacer Mohsin Khan and batting all-rounder Ayush Badoni.
Here's what LSG spent to retain the above-mentioned five players:
Retention 1: Nicholas Pooran for INR 21 crore
Retention 2: Ravi Bishnoi for INR 11 crore
Retention 3: Mayank Yadav for INR 11 crore
Retention 4 (Uncapped): Mohsin Khan for INR 4 crore
Retention 5 (Uncapped): Ayush Badoni for INR 4 crore
The sum of the above, INR 51 crore, will be deducted from the total auction purse of INR 120 crore for IPL 2025.
According to the Player Regulations released by the IPL Governing Council earlier, the franchises were allowed to retain a total of six players from their existing squad (a maximum of five capped players and a maximum of two uncapped players) either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) option during the auction.
