Has KL Rahul been retained by LSG ahead of IPL 2025 Auction?

KL Rahul grabbed the headlines before the IPL 2022 Mega Auction when he inked a deal with the new franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). The team owners showed enormous faith in him and even named him as the skipper.

Under KL Rahul's captaincy, LSG made it to the playoffs in their first two seasons. Although the team could not qualify for the final, they did an impressive job in the league stage. In IPL 2024, the Super Giants failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time.

It looks like the team owners were unhappy with the results as LSG have parted ways with Rahul before IPL 2025. Lucknow Super Giants announced their list of retained players earlier today, and Rahul did not get a place on that list.

​

The five players retained by LSG for the next season are Nicholas Pooran, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, and Ayush Badoni. It looks like Pooran will replace Rahul as the captain of LSG in IPL 2025. Pooran even led LSG in some matches last season, when Rahul was injured.

---

Why did Lucknow Super Giants release KL Rahul?

The exact reason behind KL Rahul's release has not been disclosed yet. Just a few weeks back, the batter met LSG team owner Sanjiv Goenka, and the team owner even said that Rahul was like family to him. However, in a recent chat, Goenka said that LSG have retained the players who priortized the team's goals over their personal aspirations.

​

Goenka did not name Rahul, but quite a few members of the cricket universe felt that it was an indirect dig at the former LSG skipper. The franchise can still get Rahul back in the squad by using the RTM card at the auction. It will be interesting to see if Lucknow re-sign Rahul for the upcoming season.

​