Last week saw the Indian Premier League’s 2023 season auction, which featured a number of domestic and foreign athletes. While Sam Curran, an all-rounder for England, became the most expensive player ever sold at an auction after selling to Punjab Kings for INR 18.50 crore, Ben Stokes was purchased by Chennai Super Kings for a staggering INR 16.25 crore. Nicholas Pooran, who received an INR 16 crore salary from Lucknow Super Giants, was one of the unexpected high-dollar purchases, though.
Last week saw the Indian Premier League’s 2023 season auction, which featured a number of domestic and foreign athletes. While Sam Curran, an all-rounder for England, became the most expensive player ever sold at an auction after selling to Punjab Kings for INR 18.50 crore, Ben Stokes was purchased by Chennai Super Kings for a staggering INR 16.25 crore. Nicholas Pooran, who received an INR 16 crore salary from Lucknow Super Giants, was one of the unexpected high-dollar purchases, though. However, Gautam Gambhir, the coach of the Super Giants, reaffirmed his confidence in Pooran and defended spending the enormous sum on the Windies wicketkeeper-batter.
“I don’t look at the last season. I look at the player’s ability and impact. This tournament is not about scoring 500-600 runs. That player can win you 2-3 matches in a season, and he has age on his side. If you can get such a player, you try your best to build your team around him,” Gambhir told JioCinema. “I’m not only looking for this season, he also provides us longevity. Very less players in that age bracket (27-28) have that ability. Pooran will continue to get better as he plays. I always believe that records only make headlines but impact wins you the tournament.”
Gambhir responded that the LSG invested in Pooran because the franchise was looking for a finisher for its starting XI when questioned about the role he envisioned for Pooran. “Finisher. I can’t tell you the XI. But we have Marcus Stoinis, Pooran, and Quinton de Kock. Moreover, we will now be having the impact player rule as well. We will make our XI in such a way that if we have to bring in a replacement, we can pick any of these players to bring into the match,” said Gambhir.
