KL Rahul was not retained by LSG and he will enter the IPL 2025 mega auction.
Sunil Gavaskar, legendary Indian cricketer, has highlighted which two franchises will target KL Rahul in the upcoming IPL 2025 mega auction. The event will be a two-day affair and will be hosted on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
KL Rahul was captain of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) since IPL 2022 and the franchise made it into the playoffs in IPL 2022 and 2023. However, the side performed poorly in the recent IPL 2024 and there was a visible divide between Rahul and LSG management led by owner Sanjiv Goenka.
The incident in which Goenka was seen giving Rahul a dressing down in the middle of the stadium after LSG was obliterated by SRH in a match led to rumors of Rahul parting ways with LSG. While Goenka and Rahul met at his residence in Kolkata and everything seemed normal, later Rahul was released by the franchise before the IPL 2025 mega auction.
Rahul may become a sought-after player for teams looking for a dependable top-order batsman and a possible captaincy candidate due to his demonstrated ability to score runs consistently and his leadership experience.
RCB chose to retain three cricketers - Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, and Yash Dayal, and CSK kept five players in their squad - Ruturaj Gaikwad, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni.
The IPL 2025 auction will see RCB participating with INR 83 crore to fill 22 positions and CSK coming in with INR 55 crore for 20 spots.
Gavaskar felt that Rahul's ability might be very helpful to both Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) when needed, Gavaskar emphasized. There will be a fierce bidding war because of his adaptability and poise, which make him a perfect option for teams trying to bolster their batting lineup.
"I do believe that the two south franchises, Bengaluru as well as Chennai, will go for KL Rahul. Maybe even Hyderabad will go, but Bangalore is of course KL Rahul's hometown. So clearly, I think he will be enthused, he will be encouraged, he will want to play in front of his home crowd. So, Bengaluru might go for KL Rahul," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
During the auction talks, ex-Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar offered his thoughts on David Warner's chances. The former cricket player shared his thoughts on the well-known international hitter, who is known for his aggressive batting approach.
"It's been a few years since David Warner's performances have been great. But he is still a great player. When Devon Conway was released by CSK, I'm sure they would buy him back. They are quite influenced by Rachin Ravindra as well. I don't think they will be interested in bringing David Warner into their plans. I don't think Warner can fit in CSK," Manjrekar said.
Manjrekar also went into detail about how the latest fitness issues with Mohammed Shami will affect the auction process.
"There will definitely be interest from teams, but given Shami's injury history — and this recent one took a significant amount of time to recover — there’s always a concern about a potential breakdown during the season. If a franchise invests heavily and then loses him mid-season, their options become limited. This concern might lead to a drop in his price tag," he said.