“Lucknow have a major issue with availability of overseas players” - Aakash Chopra previews GT vs LSG clash in IPL 2022

Lucknow Super Giants make their IPL debut today. Pic: LSG

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra reckons that the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) could struggle against the Gujarat Titans (GT) due to the unavailability of their key overseas players.

LSG will kick off their IPL 2022 schedule by taking on GT at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday. Since quite a few of their overseas players are away on national duty, Lucknow will have to depend on their Indian stars against Gujarat.

Previewing the contest, Chopra said on his YouTube channel:

“The Lucknow Super Giants have a major issue with the availability of overseas players. Mark Wood did not come. They have picked Andrew Tye instead, but whether he will be available, I am not sure. They have Dushmantha Chameera but Marcus Stoinis is not available yet, nor is Jason Holder. Evin Lewis is available but Kyle Mayers again is not. They have gathered so many overseas players but hardly anyone is available as of now. So they need to find some way out.”

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Monday's match will mark KL Rahul’s debut as captain for the Lucknow franchise. He had earlier led the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL.

“There is not much depth in LSG’s bowling” - Aakash Chopra

Apart from the availability issues of overseas players, Chopra feels that Lucknow’s bowling also lacks depth. According to him, while leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi will definitely play, there is some concern over the others.

He elaborated:

“They have some very good Indian batters and quite a few multi-faceted cricketers as well. But there is not much depth in LSG’s bowling. They have Avesh Khan and Dushmantha Chameera. Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi will play 100 percent. They have the likes of K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya and Deepak Hooda, who will have to combine and bowl four overs. There is no guarantee that Ankit Rajpoot will give you gun four overs. So, there are some weaknesses in the department.”

Avesh was Lucknow’s most expensive purchase at the auction. He was picked for ₹10 crore.

Check out the IPL orange cap 2022 here.

LSG’s IPL 2022 squad

KL Rahul (c) (wk), Quinton de Kock (wk), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, K Gowtham, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Andrew Tye, Dushmantha Chameera, Ankit Rajpoot, Shahbaz Nadeem, Manan Vohra, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Karan Sharma, Mayank Yadav, Kyle Mayers, K Gowtham, Evin Lewis.