Courtesy: LSG/IPL
KL Rahul, the captain of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), is reportedly set to leave the franchise after deciding to not get retained ahead of the player retention deadline, which is on Thursday, October 31. After leading LSG for three seasons, which saw him take them to the playoffs in two editions, KL Rahul is expected to join a new team for the IPL 2025 in the upcoming mega auction.
Notably, it has been reported that Lucknow Super Giants offered KL Rahul the chance to be the top retention for the IPL 2025 season, but the right-handed batter decided to not stay with them. According to the report from the Times of India, KL Rahul took a call to move on from LSG due to personal and professional reasons, and now, the likes of RCB, GT, RR, and CSK are interested in signing him.
RCB, GT, RR, and CSK to go hard on KL Rahul in IPL 2025 mega auction
The source privy to the matter regarding KL Rahul’s unwillingness to get retained by Lucknow Super Giants, said, “LSG were ready to offer top retention bracket to Rahul, but Rahul eventually decided to move on due to personal and professional reasons. At the moment, there are four franchises who have expressed their interest in him - Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Gujarat Titans, Rajasthan Royals, and Chennai Super Kings. Expect all four to go hard for him in the auction.”
In the two out of three seasons with LSG, KL Rahul was the highest run-scorer for the franchise with 616 runs in the 2022 season of the IPL, apart from accumulating 520 runs in the 2024 season. The returns in the 2023 season weren’t quite to the level because the 32-year-old missed the majority of the tournament due to an injury, but still, he had a pivotal role in taking the new franchise among the top teams of the tournament in their first season itself.
Moreover, over the past few months, there have been rumours about KL Rahul not quite being on the same page with Lucknow Super Giants after a public argument between him and the owner Sanjiv Goenka after a tough loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad last season.
