West Indies cricketer Nicholas Pooran has reportedly signed a new contract for the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

Recently, the 29-year-old Caribbean cricketer Nicholas Pooran was in Kolkata to meet with the RPSG officials. While Cricbuzz confirmed this report, the cricket news website also claimed that the Caribbean cricketer could be the first official sign for the IPL 2025. 

The retention deadline is October 31. On that day, we can learn the retained players of each IPL team before the mega auction. 

LSG are unlikely to retain KL Rahul

The LSG team management is unlikely to retain the captain KL Rahul, who is the only batter to record 1000+ runs for the team. LSG played the Eliminators in their first two IPL seasons but finished in the seventh position in the IPL 2024. 

Although the LSG owner has claimed that Rahul is a family member, the unhappiness with the captain was publicly seen in the last season.

Nicholas Pooran's performances

Pooran is the fourth-most run-scorer for LSG, as he has scored 857 runs in 29 games with an average of 42.85 and a strike rate of 175.97. The left-handed Caribbean batter has hit five half-centuries. In the last IPL season, Pooran scored 499 runs with an average of 62.37 and a strike rate of 178.21, including three half-centuries. 

As Pooran is going to be the first sign for the LSG, his retention value can be INR 18 crore. However, the franchise can deal with him for lesser or higher salaries. 

An LSG official said, according to Cricbuzz, "Pooran is committed to LSG, possesses a winning mindset, thinks deep and above all he is adaptable to the batting order and any match situation.”

If LSG don’t retain KL Rahul, Pooran can be their next captain for the IPL 2025. 

According to the Cricbuzz report, capped players Ravi Bishnoi and Mayank Yadav and the uncapped players Ayush Badoni and Mohsin Khan can be the other retained names for the LSG.