LSG Retention List for IPL 2025: Key Players Not Retained and How Much LSG Can Spend at Mega Auction as Per Report?

The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have several decisions to make ahead of the IPL 2025 season, with careful consideration on which players to include in their retention list.

The LSG hierarchy has taken some bold steps to ensure success this year. According to a report by the Indian Express, the Lucknow-based team has opted to retain just three players.

The biggest name to be retained is West Indies wicketkeeper batter Nicholas Pooran. The explosive hitter scored 499 runs last season, maintaining an average of 62.38 and an astonishing strike rate of 178.21.

Retaining such an impressive overseas player is a no-brainer for LSG, considering the big bucks that foreign players command in the IPL auctions.

The Indian Express report also mentioned that LSG will retain two uncapped players ahead of the next mega auction. The two players are pacer Mohsin Khan and young batter Ayush Badoni.

Despite being acquired at the base price of ₹20 lakh, Mohsin delivered in whatever chances he got, finishing last season with 10 wickets in nine outings. Similarly, Ayush Badoni, who is currently a part of the India A squad in the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2024, scored 235 runs with a high score of 55*.

IPL 2025: LSG Opts Against Retaining KL Rahul?

One big shocker from the report is the absence of captain KL Rahul in the LSG retained players list. The influential wicketkeeper batter had some public on-field confrontations with the franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka, which can explain the team’s decision to drop him from the retention list.

However, it is more likely that, in case LSG do decide not to retain KL Rahul, the board members will use their Right to Match (RTM) card to try and re-sign their skipper.

IPL 2025 Auction: How Much Money Lucknow Super Giants Can Spend?

In case LSG go ahead with just three retentions of Nicholas Pooran, Mohsin Khan, and Ayush Badoni, they will have spent just ₹26 crore. Pooran, as the first and only capped retention, will set his franchise back by ₹18 crore.

The two uncapped players will command a fee of ₹4 crore each, amounting to ₹8 crore in total. As each team will have a maximum transfer purse of ₹120 crore, up from ₹100 crore in previous seasons, LSG will have ₹102 crore left before the IPL 2025 mega auction.

However, if they do a U-turn on their decision to retain KL Rahul, they will spend another ₹14 crore in their second retention. This will mean that the team will have ₹88 crore at the upcoming auction, allowing them to build a strong squad to improve upon their seventh-placed finish last season.