3 teams that might have not targeted KL Rahul at the IPL 2022 Auction
Last month it was confirmed that KL Rahul will be the captain of the Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
After KL Rahul decided to part ways with Punjab Kings, Lucknow pounced on the opportunity to sign the Indian opener and hand him the captaincy reins. The right-hander will be the most expensive player in IPL history after the new franchise, who recently unveiled its team name and logo on Twitter, paid a whopping ₹17 crore to avail his services.
And here it is,
Our identity,
Our name.... 🤩🙌
#NaamBanaoNaamKamao #LucknowSuperGiants @BCCI @IPL @GautamGambhir @klrahul11 https://t.co/OVQaw39l3A
KL Rahul has been a run-machine in the IPL in recent years. He has also been in fine form for India in all three formats. While most IPL sides would have liked a player of Rahul's caliber in their squad, we take a look at three franchises who might not have been interested in signing the 29-year old at the upcoming auction.
#3 Rajasthan Royals
.@rajasthanroyals fans, what do you make of the retention list? 🤔
#VIVOIPLRetention https://t.co/JgrLm09mkv
Ahead of the 2021 IPL season, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) announced Sanju Samson as their permanent captain. The 27-year-old shares a similar profile to KL Rahul. The Kerala batter keeps wickets for RR in addition to occupying a crucial top-order role.
The first-ever IPL champions are still backing Samson to lead them successfully, with the right-hander retained as their skipper ahead of the mega auction. All three of Rajasthan's retentions are top-order batters, with the other two retentions being Yashavi Jaiswal. and Jos Buttler.
Rajasthan have their bases covered at the top of the order and also have a young Indian captain in their ranks. Rather than looking to sign another player with a similar profile, they will be looking to build their team around their set top order.
#2 Mumbai Indians
Rohit Sharma is the most successful captain in the history of the IPL, leading the Mumbai Indians (MI) to five titles. The right-hander has allowed the franchise to build a team around him, leading his side from the front at the top of the order.
Usually, the Mumbai Indians prefer an explosive foreign opener to partner their captain. The idea behind this approach is to allow Rohit to take his time to build his innings, with the fellow opener playing his shots from the start.
This approach has been a key part of Mumbai's success in recent times, and there's no reason why they would look to change in.
Moreover, the Mumbai Indians probably wouldn't have been able to afford the kind of salary KL Rahul would be interested in.
#1 Chennai Super Kings
Alongside the Mumbai Indians, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been one of the most successful franchises in the IPL. Led by the legendary MS Dhoni, CSK has won four IPL titles, with the last of those coming last year.
CSK openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis were the top-two run-scorers in IPL 2021, amassing 600-plus runs each. The Chennai Super Kings have announced that the Maharastra batter will be one of their retained players ahead of next season.
MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Moeen Ali are the other three players CSK have retained. Chennai are known to stick to their tried and tested approach which has worked well for them in the past.
With Gaikwad's approach to building an innings being similar to KL Rahul's, the latter and Chennai Super Kings wouldn't exactly be the right match for each other.