Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra said Devdutt Padikkal’s acquisition could resolve the Lucknow Super Giants’ No. 3 issues in IPL 2024. However, LSG traded in Padikkal and released Avesh Khan to the Rajasthan Royals before the IPL 2024 auction as well. The trade also added ₹2.25 crore to their purse, leaving them with a budget of ₹13.15 crore to buy a maximum of six players in the auction as well, including two overseas.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “They (LSG) have done a big trade. The No. 3 batter was a problem. If you check out the entire last season, with (KL) Rahul or without him, you will find problems at No. 3. Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya and Prerak Mankad were tried at No. 3 but the job wasn’t getting done. None of them was a solution to that problem. No T20 team that has problems at No. 3 can do well. So this team gave Avesh Khan and in came Devdutt Padikkal. If you see Devdutt Padikkal’s Vijay Hazare Trophy numbers, you will say he is in gun form.”
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Devdutt Padikkal has scored 465 runs for Karnataka at an outstanding average of 155.00 and a strike rate of 120.46 in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy as well. He has hit two centuries and three half-centuries in five innings, with 117 being his top score. Aakash Chopra also claimed that the Rajasthan Royals couldn’t use Devdutt Padikkal well.
“It seemed like Rajasthan didn’t use him well. The player is very good but their problem was that they had Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson as their top three. So they were sending Devdutt Padikkal at No. 4. It’s better not to play him because he is not useful there,” Aakash Chopra concluded. “It will be a challenge for Lucknow as well that they should always keep him at No. 3 and get him to open if they get a chance because he is actually a very good player. His best in the IPL came as an opener for RCB. So it is a good trade as they have completely put aside the No. 3 problem.”
