New Delhi, Dec 16 (IANS) Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) could look to buy England’s batting all-rounder Liam Livingstone at the IPL 2026 auction to bolster their lower-order firepower, said former India batter Mohammad Kaif.

The IPL 2026 auction will be held at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, and they come in with a purse of Rs 22.95 crore to fill six slots, four

of which are for roping in overseas players.

With David Miller released ahead of the auction, LSG’s primary goal will be to get a player who fills in that void.

“One name that comes to mind is Liam Livingstone. He plays the role of a finisher and plays at number five or six. With them releasing Miller, his direct replacement option is Livingstone. He bowls as well and although his current form is not good, but I think he has a lot of experience and his strike rate is quite high.

“So instead of David Miller, Lucknow would like to run behind Livingstone because you have three overseas batters in Pooran, Markram and Marsh, and you need a finisher who can play at number five or six for Lucknow,” said Kaif, a JioStar expert, in an exclusive conversation with IANS ahead of the mini auction.

LSG enters the auction with enviable depth in their Indian pace attack, strengthened by the acquisitions of veteran seamer Mohammed Shami and young pacer Arjun Tendulkar. The duo coming in means there’s additional cover for pacers Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan and Mayank Yadav, who have been dealing with injuries for a long time.

Kaif feels LSG should look to rope in either of the South African pacers Anrich Nortje or Lungi Ngidi as their overseas fast bowling option to balance the squad.

“First of all, I pray and hope that Avesh Khan and Mayank Yadav are close to being fully fit, as it’s almost 5-6 months now. Lucknow will be praying that they recover and come back to action. Now the second question is, who should they target? I think they need overseas fast bowlers.

“There are options in Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi. Nortje could be an option because Lucknow has a large ground, a square boundary, and a red soil pitch, which can help him in generating good bounce and pace. So they can target Nortje as well, but as I said earlier, the injured players should be fit, and then pick either Nortje or Ngidi as an option,” he added.

In terms of spinners, New Delhi-based Digvesh Rathi remains the lone wrist-spin option in LSG’s roster, leaving the franchise with a gap to address at the auction.

Having released Ravi Bishnoi ahead of the auction, boosting their spin bowling department with an experienced player to complement Rathi and provide variety in middle-overs bowling will also be key for LSG.

Kaif suggested that LSG may need to explore uncapped spin options, given the possibility of Bishnoi fetching an expensive pay cheque at the auction.

“One issue is that there may not be enough purse left for Lucknow to buy Bishnoi back. Lucknow won’t be able to afford him at an expensive price.

“KKR are having a lot of money, and then Chennai is also there. So I think that by the time Bishnoi’s number comes, a lot of people will want to run behind him. Now Digvesh Rathi has become their premier leg spinner. (Skipper Rishabh) Pant also likes him because he bowls in the power-play, and takes wickets in the middle overs.

“With Rathi becoming Pant’s favourite, who will bowl with him now? Lucknow won’t be able to afford a spinner at an expensive price there. They won’t be able to save that much money. So Lucknow will focus on the untapped leg and left-arm spinners who can come at a cheap price at the auction.”

Catch all the action from the TATA IPL 2026 mini-auction, December 16, 2:30 PM onwards, LIVE on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network.

–IANS

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