SWOT Analysis (IPL 2022) - Lucknow Super Giants

The IPL auction was held last Friday in the city of Kochi. The auction witnessed some of the most expensive buys in the tournament's history as the franchises scrambled to select the perfect bunch of players to bring the much sought-after IPL trophy home.

The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) had a busy day at the auction table as they purchased a total of 10 players. The KL Rahul-led side had a decent debut season as they entered the Playoffs and finished 4th in the season.

The Lucknow think tank, led by head coach Andy Flower and mentor Gautam Gambhir, laid emphasis on the talented Indian youngsters while purchasing players in the auction, while attempting to cover all bases.

Prior to the 2023 IPL auction, the franchise let go of some big Indian and overseas names such as Dushmanta Chameera, Jason Holder, Andrew Tye, Evin Lewis, Manish Pandey, Shahbaz Nadeem, and Ankit Rajpoot.

The 10 players the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) selected were Nicholas Pooran (₹16 crores), Jaydev Unadkat (₹50 lakhs), Yash Thakur (₹45 lakhs), Romario Shepherd (₹50 lakhs), Daniel Sams (₹75 lakhs), Amit Mishra (₹50 lakhs), Prerak Mankad (₹20 lakhs), Swapnil Singh (₹20 lakhs), Naveen-ul-Haq (₹50 lakhs), and Yudhvir Charak (₹20 lakh).

On that note, let’s start with our SWOT analysis on the LSG squad for IPL 2023.

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#1 Strengths

The LSG batting line-up, consisting of the likes of K.L. Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, and Deepak Hooda, was easily one of the best line-ups in the competition even before the auction.

The addition of Caribbean star Nicholas Pooran will only add more firepower to the team after his return to form in the Abu Dhabhi T10 League. Another strength of the franchise has been their scouting of young Indian talent from the domestic circuit.

In the last IPL season, the likes of Ayush Badoni and Mohsin Khan impressed one and all with their performances. The acquisition of new youngsters might also bolster the team further.

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#2 Weaknesses

Last season, the bowling department of LSG seemed a little undercooked. This weakness was visible in their exit last season in the Eliminator against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), as RCB posted a whopping 207/4 on the board batting first.

This target proved to be a little too much in the end, even for the strong Lucknow batting order, resulting in their defeat. Prior to the auction, their bowling line-up consisted mainly of young Indian bowlers such as Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, and Mohsin Khan, an attack that lacked both experience and the necessary X-factor.

After letting go of Jason Holder, Andrew Tye, and Dushmantha Chameera before this season, the LSG support staff knew that they had a lot of work to do in the auction. The purchases of Amit Mishra, Daniel Sams, Jaydev Unadkat, Yash Thakur, and Naveen-Ul-Haq have strengthened their attack and bench strength.

The return of Mark Wood, who was picked by them in the 2022 IPL Auction for ₹7.5 crores will also return will also bolster their line-up further. Yet the lack of consistent world-class performers might haunt them as the competition gets tougher, as was the case for RCB for several seasons before IPL 2020.

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#3 Opportunities

LSG picked up a host of Indian players who have impressed on the domestic circuit. This season will offer a host of opportunities to such players, namely Yash Thakur, Prerak Mankad, Swapnil Singh, and Yudhvir Charak.

Players like Ayush Badoni and Mohsin Khan will look to follow up their good performances last season with another strong showing. This tournament will also offer a chance to Amit Mishra to showcase it to the world, showing that after all these years, he still has it.

Jasprit Bumrah's bowling action lookalike Naveen-Ul-Haq will also be raring to go and impress at the biggest T20 league in the world.

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#4 Threats

While LSG look like a solid team on paper, there are certain imminent threats that they might face. They have purchased Nicholas Pooran's services for a whopping ₹16 crore. He has not delivered as per expectations in the last two seasons of the IPL.

While nobody can doubt the potential he possesses, buying him for such a high price remains a big gamble taken by the LSG management. While last year the IPL was just played in Mumbai and Pune, the teams just had to adapt to four venues.

This season, the IPL will be played on at least 10 grounds. The question remains: will LSG's bowling attack be able to adapt to all these different playing conditions?

With that, we conclude our SWOT analysis of the Lucknow Super Giants. What are your thoughts on their acquisitions from the auction? Let us know in the comments section below.