The Indian Premier League (IPL) confirmed on Wednesday that Rajasthan Royals (RR) star opener Devdutt Padikkal has been traded to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), with Avesh Khan joining the Royals. Padikkal played for RR in two seasons, 2022 and 2023, and began his career with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (2019-2021). Avesh also started his IPL career with RCB in 2017 before moving on to Delhi Capitals for four seasons from 2018 to 2021. He was signed by LSG at the mega auction preceding the 2022 edition.

Avesh has played 47 IPL matches so far with 55 wickets under his belt. After joining LSG in 2022, the right-arm bowler played 22 matches and took 26 wickets before being moved to RR for his existing fee (INR 10 crore). Meanwhile, the left-handed batter will transfer from RR to LSG for the same cost (INR 7.75 crore). The top-order batter has played 57 IPL matches and scored 1521 runs, including a century and nine fifties.

The move was completed shortly after LSG’s mentor, Gautam Gambhir, announced his departure from the franchise to rejoin Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Gambhir captained the KKR to two IPL titles and is slated to join the KKR team as a coach ahead of the 2024 season.

Avesh also had a great 2022 season in the IPL tournament, taking up 18 wickets in 13 matches and his impressive performances assured him a steady run with Team India in the shortest format. Avesh continues in the squad for the forthcoming T20I series against Australia, which starts today in Visakhapatnam.