Before the much-awaited IPL Mega Auction 2025, Team India was struck by the loss of its star wicket-keeper KL Rahul. Now the former captain of LSG has confirmed the facts behind his decision reportedly to leave the team before the Indian Premier League mega auction. After being captain of the team for the last 3 seasons of the League, Rahul was released from the team for season 2025.
Rahul, the WI cricketer and a wicket-keeper batsman gave an interview to Star Sports on the eve of the IPL Mega auction that took place on November 24 and 25, and explained that he left the team to enhance his chances of getting more freehand during the game.
They chose to keep players Nicholas Pooran (INR 21 Crore) Ravi Bishnoi (INR 11 Crore) Mayank Yadav (INR 11 Crore) and Mohsin Khan (INR 11 Crore), which brought KL Rahul’s three year spell with Lucknow Super Giants to an end.
While having a conversation with Star Sports, KL Rahul said,”I wanted to start fresh, I wanted to explore my options and I wanted to go and play where I could find some freedom, where the team atmosphere could be something lighter. Sometimes you need to move away and find something good for yourself.”
“I have been out of the T20 team for a while and I know where I stand as a player and I know what I need to do to get back, so I’ll look forward to this IPL season to give me that platform where I can go back and enjoy my cricket and my aim is to obviously get back into the Indian T20 team,” Rahul further added.
LSG secured 7th place in the 2024 IPL season points table winning only 14 points from 14 games. In the previous season, there were four teams with 14 points who contested for a spot in the playoffs. But out of them, LSG had the worst Net Run Rate NRR=-0.667. From the teams with 14 points, it was RCB that qualified for the playoffs as they had a better NRR = +0.459.
