The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka has applauded Mumbai Indians (MI) owner Nita Ambani for her team-building approach. He also added that he too wants to follow the same philosophy but hasn’t succeeded so far as well. The Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), with five titles apiece, are the joint-most successful teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) alongside CSK. MI are also known for grooming youngsters, with many of their players going on to represent India.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, he said, “Rohit (Sharma), Virat (Kohli) and (MS) Dhoni are huge brands. Thus far, we didn’t have a single player in Lucknow who would attract the sponsors or advertisers a lot. Rishabh (Pant) definitely has the X-factor, but brands is one aspect. That is not really taken into consideration when you plan a team. You are planning a team so that you can win.”
“I really want to build a solid Indian core. When I look at Mumbai, I feel no franchise owner has probably done what Nita Ambani has done. I admire, respect, and want to follow them but I am unable to follow. However, solid Indian core, some we have thought about the next year, and some we have thought about the next two to four years,” Goenka again added.
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In the same video, Aakash Chopra also asked Sanjiv Goenka whether the Lucknow Super Giants will look to play a different brand of cricket in IPL 2025.
“We had only one desire in all three seasons but we couldn’t accomplish that, and that was to play an aggressive, attacking, and winning brand of cricket. In that, we recognized that you would lose some games. When you are playing 14 games, you will definitely lose three or four. There is no doubt about that,” he replied.
“The point is very clear, the intention is that only, that you play to win. Winning or losing is a different matter, but that approach must be one of playing to win, and that is what I would like LSG to symbolize. So far we have not quite got there, but hopefully in the future we should be able to get there,” Goenka concluded.
