IPL 2022: Every team would want someone like Kagiso Rabada, says Lucknow captain KL Rahul

Lucknow franchise captain KL Rahul has hinted that his team could target South African gun fast bowler Kagiso Rabada in the upcoming mega auction of the IPL. Rahul said that every team would want someone like Kagiso Rabada on their side.

Rabada has been a consistent performer in the IPL and had played a key role in the success of the Delhi Capitals. The right-arm fast bowler had scalped 30 wickets in 17 matches of IPL 2020 and had helped DC in reaching their maiden final of the tournament.

Rabada had a decent season in IPL 2021 as he snared 15 wickets in as many matches. Overall, Rabada has picked 76 wickets in 50 IPL matches and he has bowled with an average of 20.52. Thus, the Proteas fast bowler is expected to get a big amount in the upcoming auction. Rabada has set his base price at INR 2 crore.

“We have seen Rabada being a key bowler for the Delhi Capitals and played a huge part in their success. Every team would want a player like Kagiso Rabada. Come on, he bowls over 145kph and is a very smart cricketer. Everyone would want someone like that,” said Rahul while talking to Sports Today.

On the other hand, Rahul also heaped praise on Marco Jansen, who impressed in his debut Test series against India. The lanky fast bowler scalped 19 wickets in three Test matches at an average of 16.47. Jansen has played for five-time champions Mumbai Indians in the IPL.

“Marco Jansen played a few games for Mumbai Indians but he has come of his own now. He had a really good series with the red ball and that makes a little bit of a difference with how people see him. He is someone who will do really well in international cricket with the red ball. We all spoke about it after the series as well that he is going to be the next big thing in international cricket,” said Rahul.

Meanwhile, Rassie van der Dussen had also impressed in the series against India. The right-hander scored 218 runs in three ODIs and he is also expected to attract a huge bid in the auction.

“Van der Dussen has been performing phenomenally and is someone who plays spin really well. That is key and a very important thing that a franchise looks at when you are picking a foreign batter. We play the IPL in India and teams tend to use a lot of spinners in the middle overs so you need to be a good player of spin to get into an IPL team,” he said.

Apart from KL Rahul, the Lucknow franchise has roped in Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi.