The IPL mini-auction for the upcoming season saw all-rounders dominate the proceedings. Sam Curran was purchased by Punjab Kings for a record-breaking price of IRS 18.5 crore, while Cameron Green and Ben Stokes too went for big money.
Green was roped in by Mumbai Indians for INR 17.5 crore, while Chennai Super Kings spent INR 16.25 crore to acquire Stokes.
However, one name, who also had an equally great day was Nicholas Pooran. Despite having a quiet outing at the World T20 in Australia earlier this year, Pooran’s services were secured by Lucknow Super Giants for a whooping amount of INR 16 crore.
Pooran, who had a base price of INR 2 crore, got Lucknow and Delhi Capitals into an intense bidding war.
Given his form in the past few seasons of IPL, Pooran wasn’t expected to breach the 5-crore mark.
Gautam Gambhir, the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants, revealed the reason for spending huge bucks on him and backed the player’s ability.
“We did not even think about what he did in the last IPL season. It was just his ability. We were clear on the fact that we had to have someone like him, someone of his caliber. He is 26-27 and probably he is going to start peaking from here on. It’s not about how many runs you score, it’s about the impact, if he can win 3-4 games, he has that ability. How many players have the ability to play in the top 4 and as well at 6-7. Nicholas has that ability,” Gambhir told Jio Cinema.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) started the bidding for Pooran. Delhi Capitals (DC) joined the race after CSK pulled out. LSG joined DC in the bid to buy Pooran and defeated them by shelling out a huge sum.
Going by records, Pooran has proven to be one of the below-par signings in the past 2 IPL seasons. Pooran only managed 306 runs in 14 matches in IPL 2022 while he scored 85 runs in IPL 2021.