KL Rahul expressed desire to be retained by LSG ahead of IPL 2025
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Even though the previous season didn’t finish well, veteran Indian batsman KL Rahul has told Lucknow Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka that he wants to be retained, even if the team’s owner hasn’t made any such promises. In terms of India’s T20 format, Rahul, a previous vice captain of the national team, is no longer relevant.
Rahul guided LSG to the playoffs in the first two IPL seasons, but it was generally accepted as the third season revealed that Gautam Gambhir’s strategic nous had more to do with the team’s success than Rahul’s leadership
It’s true that Rahul visited RPG’s corporate office in Kolkata and met Dr. Goenka. He has expressed his desire to be retained to Dr. Goenka rather plainly. But LSG management wouldn’t want to lay out their ideas until BCCI developed a retention policy, an IPL Governing Council member with knowledge of LSG developments told PTI under condition of anonymity.
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Rahul wants to be in LSG
“Look, Rahul wants to be retained, but they can’t commit anyone until LSG knows how many are to be retained and what the new purse is,” the IPL insider stated.
After Sunrisers Hyderabad’s crushing loss last year, Rahul’s heated chat with Goenka went viral, while many later described it as a “frank discussion between owner and skipper.”
It’s safe to say that he won’t be the first retention by LSG, even if his prospects of being kept are now slim.
If Rahul is kept as the top choice, the auction purse may be reduced by Rs 18 to Rs 20 crore (depending on whether the team purse is raised). With the X factor players at the top now being considered, no organization would spend that much on Rahul.
Had he truly intended to return to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he would not have traveled to Kolkata by himself. With his batting approach, which is regrettably out of date in T20 cricket, it’s said that Rahul hasn’t exactly piqued the curiosity of many teams.
