Nicholas Pooran, the hard-hitting West Indies batter, has all but made himself the first official retention pick ahead of the IPL 2025. A report by Cricbuzz confirmed that Pooran secured himself a package of ₹18 crore after meeting Lucknow Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka in Kolkata on Tuesday and sealed the deal. For the longest time, KL Rahul, their captain in the previous two seasons of the IPL, was believed to be the top retention choice, but once the deal fell apart, Pooran grabbed it with both hands being in the right place at the right time.

As per the BCCI retention rules, the top retention gets a salary of ₹18 crore, which makes this Pooran's richest paycheck in the IPL. His previous best outing at the IPL auction was two years ago, ahead of the 2023 season, when LSG first invested ₹16 crore in him after he was let go by Sunrisers Hyderabad.

"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," the website quoted a source as saying.

Why Pooran has hit the jackpot

And rightfully so. Last year, Pooran was one of the leading run scorers for LSG with 499 runs at an average of 62.38 and strike-rate of 178.21 with three half-centuries. The year prior wasn't too bad either, with Pooran's tally reading 358 runs. Pooran is 2024's leading run-scorer across all forms of T20 cricket, smashing 2251 runs from 68 games. The highest-placed Indian on the list is Virat Kohli, ranked way below at No. 40.

With Indian cricketers expected to rule the roost at the IPL mega-auction next month, and Rahul, the former LSG servant, is believed to be one of the hottest grabs during the two-day event. Rumours have it that RCB are keen on pouncing on him as Faf du Plessis is 40 and running. They need a captain, and who better than to have Rahul, a former RCB player himself, returning to the franchise he started his IPL career with back in 2014.

With Pooran now all but confirmed as LSG's first-choice retention, the remaining four will likely be Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Ayush Badoni and Mohsin Khan. They enter the auction with a purse of 69 crore, which they must use to fill at least 15 slots.

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