Who is Naman Tiwari? Former U19 World Cup superstar purchased by LSG for INR 1 crore

Lucknow Super Giants purchased Naman Tiwari for INR 1 crore at the IPL 2026 auction in Abu Dhabi. Having entered at a base price of INR 30 lakh, a total of 15 bids took place for Tiwari before he was roped in by LSG.

Delhi Capitals started off by showing interest a couple of times before backing out. In came LSG next, joining Rajasthan Royals in a bid to pick the left-arm pacer. Tiwari was amongst a lengthy list of uncapped Indian players who crossed the INR 1 crore mark.

Tiwari secured 12 wickets at an economy rate of 5.17 in six matches at the 2024 U19 World Cup, ending up as India’s second-leading wicket-taker behind left-arm spinner Saumy Pandey.

Tiwari’s most recent cricketing assignment was for Noida Super Kings in the 2025 Uttar Pradesh Premier League. He was impressive throughout the tournament, scalping 19 wickets in 10 matches at an economy of 8.20.

LSG had a total of INR 22.95 crore to spend ahead of the auction, having six slots to fill, included a maximum of four overseas vacancies. They ended up roping in three overseas players: Josh Inglis (INR 8.6 crore), Wanindu Hasaranga (INR 2 crore) and Anrich Nortje (INR 2 crore). Apart from Tiwari, Akshat Raghuwanshi and Mukul Choudhary were the other uncapped players drawn in by the franchise.

Coming to the Super Giants’ IPL history, they managed to reach the playoffs on both occasions in 2022 and 2023; their first two seasons in the cash-rich league. However, the past couple of editions have not been as per expectations. LSG finished seventh in 2024 and 2025. With the finetuning of the squad, the Sanjiv Goenka-led side will aim on having a much better run in the 19th installation of the IPL.