Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], November 15 (ANI): Lucknow Super Giants have made a bold move to release their South African power-hitter, David Miller and pace spearhead Akash Deep before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction, scheduled to be held on December 16 with a salary cap of Rs 22.95 crore.

On Saturday, Lucknow announced its list of retained and released players before the 19th edition of the IPL. Miller, known for providing the fireworks in the middle, joined Lucknow at a price tag of Rs 7.5 crore.

The swashbuckling southpaw had a turbulent season, mustering up just 153 runs at 30.60 in 11 appearances, with an unbeaten 27 being his highest score. Apart from Miller, Akash, too, had a disappointing run with Lucknow.

He missed the initial phase of the last season while recovering from an injury and joined the camp for the latter half of the season. In six appearances, Akash scythed three wickets at a shambolic average of 76.33 while leaking runs at an economy of 12.05.

Before releasing Akash, Lucknow bolstered its pace attack by securing a successful trade deal for veteran pace Mohammed Shami from Sunrisers Hyderabad. Shami was the second-most expensive acquisition for SRH ahead of the 2025 IPL season at Rs 10 crore. He made a move to Lucknow at his existing fee.

The veteran pacer has extensive IPL experience, having played 119 matches for teams such as Kolkata Knight Riders (2013-14), Delhi Capitals (2016-18), Punjab Kings (2019-21), Gujarat Titans (2022-23), and Sunrisers Hyderabad (2025). Shami boasts 133 wickets in the competition at an average of 28.18, with best figures of 4/11.

Apart from Shami, LSG also acquired uncapped seamer and the son of legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar, Arjun Tendulkar, through a trade deal from the Mumbai Indians. While the five-time IPL champions were required to part ways with Arjun, they have secured the services of leg-spinner Mayank Markande in a trade with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

The Mumbai Indians initially signed Arjun in the IPL 2021 mini-auction for Rs 20 lakh, but sat on the bench throughout the season. MI repurchased him for Rs 30 lakh in the IPL 2022 mega-auction, and he made his long-awaited IPL debut in 2023, taking three wickets in four games.

In the IPL 2025 mega-auction, Arjun went unsold in the initial round but was later acquired by MI at his base price of Rs 30 lakh in the accelerated round. He did not get a game that season and remained on the bench.

A couple of days ago, Lucknow traded seasoned all-rounder Shardul Thakur to the Mumbai Indians for the next edition of the tournament. The Lucknow Super Giants picked up the Mumbai-based all-rounder for Rs 2 crore as an injury replacement for the 18th edition of the league, wherein he featured in 10 games.

Shardul has been a utility player for the franchises he has represented, consistently delivering clutch performances. The all-rounder has been traded to the Mumbai Indians for his existing player fee of Rs 2 crore.

Players Retained: Rishabh Pant (c), Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Breetzke, Nicholas Pooran, Himmat Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arshin Kulkarni, Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Digvesh Rathi, M Siddharth, Prince Yadav, Akash Singh

Players Released: David Miller, Ravi Bishnoi, Akash Deep, Aryan Juyal, Shamar Joseph, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar

Traded Players: Mohammed Shami and Arjun Tendulkar (in), Shardul Thakur (out). (ANI)