"That's why he was retained" - Aakash Chopra on Lucknow Super Giants' strengths ahead of IPL 2025

Former India player Aakash Chopra has picked the Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG) explosive middle order of Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant and David Miller as their biggest strength ahead of IPL 2025. He noted that the three left-handed batters play spin well, highlighting the skill as the reason for Pooran's retention.

LSG retained Pooran for ₹21 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. They acquired Pant for a whopping ₹27 crore and Miller for ₹7.50 crore at the mega auction last November.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener chose the Lucknow Super Giants' destructive middle order as a huge positive heading into IPL 2025.

"The middle order is absolutely explosive. It is incredible. They have three left-handers. When you pick three left-handers, the opposing team says they would play an off-spinner. Firstly, very few teams have off-spinners. One is Ravichandran Ashwin, another is Washington Sundar, and after that, which quality off-spinner are you going to see in whichever place?" he said (3:00).

"Secondly, all three left-handers, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant and David Miller, play spin well. You rarely get overseas batters who play spin very well. Nicholas Pooran is right up there with the best in the world. That's why he was retained. David Miller, again, is a player who plays spin very well," Chopra added.

While observing that David Miller scored a blazing century in South Africa's 2025 Champions Trophy semi-final loss to New Zealand, the cricketer-turned-commentator added that the three southpaws might follow each other in the batting order.

"He just scored a century in a losing cause in the Champions Trophy. So they have left-handers and all three will come in the middle. They might come one after the other, unless Rishabh thinks he should go at No. 3, and Nicholas and Miller can be kept at No. 5 and No. 6. I see a slightly flexible batting order," Chopra elaborated.

Aakash Chopra noted that LSG will also have another left-hander in Shahbaz Ahmed in the lower-middle order. He added that Abdul Samad might be the only right-hander amid all southpaws, especially if Ayush Badoni bats in the top three.

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"Lots of good overseas batting options" - Aakash Chopra on Lucknow Super Giants' other strengths heading into IPL 2025

Aiden Markram might open for the Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2025. [P/C: iplt20.com]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra picked the plethora of overseas batting options as another of the Lucknow Super Giants' strengths ahead of IPL 2025.

"You can assume the overseas batting options to be another of their strengths, where you start with Aiden Markram, and then Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Breetzke, Nicholas Pooran and David Miller. So you have got lots of good overseas batting options," he said (4:30).

The analyst added that LSG also possess a promising Indian seam attack.

"A young fast-bowling attack which is extremely promising. It includes Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Akash Deep, Akash Singh and Avesh Khan. The Indian fast-bowling core is promising. However, it is slightly inexperienced as well," Chopra observed.

The Lucknow Super Giants retained Mayank Yadav (₹11 crore) and Mohsin Khan (₹4 crore) ahead of the auction. They bolstered their Indian pace department by acquiring Avesh Khan (₹9.75 crore), Akash Deep (₹8 crore), Akash Singh (₹30 lakh) and Rajvardhan Hangargekar (₹30 lakh) at the auction.