“That’s weird” – LSG head coach Justin Langer condemns mega auction rules during IPL 2025

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) head coach Justin Langer has announced his depletion at the mega auctions that take place every three years in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Franchises had to sacrifice the core they built for their retention policies and build from scratch because the infamous model was in place.

This rule contributes to maintaining the level of league plot and the lifeline of low-performing franchises. However, it is not received much from the majority who lament the lack of continuity.

For example, LSG had to say goodbye to several players who were taking part in their first set-up since its inception in 2022. The franchise has held five players before the IPL 2025 Mega auction and built a new team led by Rishabh Pant’s historic INR 27 Krole acquisition.

Langer admitted that holding 20 players from LSG’s 2024 batch and building a culture rather than doing a shake-up was ideal.

“We had 25 players last year. The remaining 20 people went back to the pool. Then we won this mega auction and start over every three years. That’s odd. Tell other sports where this happens? In my perfect world, I’ll hold 20 players and not the way it works.

Langer had the opportunity to work with relatively well-established teams with Western Australia, the Perth Scorchers and the Australian men’s cricket team. The unstable dynamics and structure of IPL are also a major challenge for the most accomplished coaches.

“They just practice, practice, practice” – Justin Langer welcomes Indian players’ work ethic

Justin Langer praised the Indian players for their dedication to crafting and for using all their resources at their disposal.

“India’s hunger for work, I’ve never seen anything like that. They just practice, practice, practice, it’s insane. We’ve always worked hard, but I thought these guys were on another level,” Langer concluded (15:37).

LSG is handing the opportunity to emerging players on the team amid the injury crisis in the bowling division. Prince Yadav, M Siddharth and Digushrati have made a positive impression in the 2025 IPL season.