Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
The highly anticipated IPL 2025 mega auction, which will decide the fate of 574 shortlisted players, is currently underway at the Abady Al Johar Arena in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. With just 204 slots up for grabs, including 70 overseas ones, only a select few out of 366 Indian and 208 overseas players will be picked by the Indian Premier League (IPL) teams for the 2025 season. KL Rahul, who is one of the sought after Indian players in the mega auction, has been signed by Delhi Capitals for INR 14 Crore.
The defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) opened the bid for the Indian wicketkeeper-batter, but were soon joined by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The two franchises kept raising their paddles for the Indian wicketkeeper-batter before Bengaluru bowed out of the race and Delhi Capitals joined the war. The Mangalore keeper-batter was finally brought by DC for INR 14 Crore.
KL Rahul's performance in IPL
The 32-year-old made his debut in the Indian Premier League in 2013, and has played a total of 132 matches so far. Counted as one of the best wicketkeeper-batters due to his versatility, Rahul was first roped in by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (earlier Royal Challengers Bangalore) in 2013 and was later signed by SunRisers Hyderabad in 2014. The Mangalore-born batter had two underwhelming campaigns at the Hyderabad-based franchise, and following that he returned to RCB in 2016.
In 2016, Rahul displayed brilliant performance and scored 397 runs in 14 matches. Later in 2018, Punjab Kings (earlier Kings XI Punjab) purchased him for INR 11 Crore and appointed him the captain in 2021. In 2022, Rahul moved to the new franchise Lucknow Super Giants and made him the captain. In his debut season as LSG skipper, Rahul scored 616 runs. In the 2024 season, Rahul came up with 520 runs in 14 matches, but was released by them before the mega-auction.
