KL Rahul has reportedly parted ways with his IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. The IPL 2025 auction is slated to be held later this year at an overseas venue.

KL Rahul was purchased by the Lucknow Super Giants for INR 17 Cr as a draft pick before the IPL 2022 auction. He was selected as the team's captain for the IPL 2022 season. Under his leadership, LSG made the playoffs in their first two seasons but fell short in the most recent IPL season.

Rahul traveled to Kolkata on August 26 to meet with LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka at the latter's office in Alipore, fueling rumors that he could continue as the team's captain.

However, it was soon revealed that LSG and Rahul had decided to part ways. This was despite the fact that KL Rahul was reportedly offered the top retention bracket by LSG.

"LSG were ready to offer top retention bracket to Rahul, but Rahul eventually decided to move on due to personal and professional reasons," a source told Times of India.

Rahul, who captained LSG for three seasons and led them to the playoffs twice, could be a popular buy, especially given his captaincy skills. He has also captained Punjab Kings for a couple of seasons in the IPL.

"At the moment, there are four franchises who have expressed their interest in him - Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Gujarat Titans, Rajasthan Royals, and the Chennai Super Kings. Expect all four to go hard for him in the auction," a source told TOI.

The Indian wicketkeeper-batter has scored 4,683 runs in the IPL at an average of 45 and a strike rate of 134. However, his strike rate has raised concerns, as he hasn't scored at a strike rate of over 140 since 2019.

In the IPL 2024, the 32-year-old played 14 matches and scored 520 runs at an average of 37.14 and a strike rate of 136.13, with four scores over 50 and a highest score of 82.