"A new journey" - KL Rahul tweets photo to show his excitement as Lucknow Super Giants form first squad at IPL 2022 auction

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain KL Rahul took to Twitter on Monday to share his excitement after the franchise built its first-ever squad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 auction.

The 29-year-old posted a photo in which Rahul can be seen writing down the complete squad list on a notebook.

"A new journey," he captioned the post.

The franchise then retweeted him, writing:

"A KLass squad with a KLass captain."

LSG used up their complete ₹90 crore purse and finished with a squad comprising 21 players.

While they drafted in Rahul, Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi ahead of the IPL 2022 auction, LSG made 18 purchases in the mega auction.

Indian pacer Avesh Khan, who was the second-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2021, was their most expensive buy at ₹10 crore. He became the most expensive uncapped player in the history of the tournament.

They also spent big on Jason Holder (₹8.75 crore) and Krunal Pandya (₹8.25 crore).

Avesh is set to be part of a deadly pace attack along with Holder and Mark Wood, whom they got for ₹7.50 crore.

With Holder and Stoinis also there as pace-bowling all-rounders, they have a good-looking attack, with the likes of Dushmantha Chameera and Ankit Rajpoot as backups.

KL Rahul part of blockbuster opening partnership at LSG

Lucknow Super Giants got a bumper deal when they signed Quinton de Kock for ₹6.75 crore. The South African wicketkeeper-batter is set to open for the team along with skipper KL Rahul.

They also have Manish Pandey and Deepak Hooda, apart from Stoinis and Krunal Pandya in their batting order. The inclusion of Jason Holder has made it a formidable all-round unit.

LSG recruited Evin Lewis as a backup opener and also have the likes of Manan Vohra and Kyle Mayers as backup players.

Krunal and Hooda, of course, will also contribute to their spin department, which otherwise comprises Ravi Bishnoi, Krishnappa Gowtham and Shahbaz Nadeem.

Overall, LSG had a good outing at their maiden IPL auction and will be happy with the squad they have for their first season.

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Here is the full LSG squad: KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya, Mark Wood, Quinton de Kock, Deepak Hooda, Manish Pandey, Ankit Rajpoot, Evin Lewis, Dushmantha Chameera, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shahbaz Nadeem, Kyle Mayers, Manan Vohra, Ayush Badoni, Karan Sharma, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav