IPL 2025: Future tense for K.L. Rahul, though LSG owner calls him ‘family’

It’s not an enviable job to be in K.L. Rahul’s shoes these days. Named captain of Lucknow Super Giants with much fanfare in their debut season in 2022 and even after the newcomers making two play-offs in last three seasons, he is not a certainty among the retentions of the franchise for the next mega auction.

The mood was not difficult to gauge during a media interaction with the franchise owner Sanjeev Goenka, the industrial tycoon, and their new mentor Zaheer Khan in Kolkata on Wednesday. ‘’Rahul has been a very integral part of the Super Giants family. As far as I am personally concerned, he is part of my family,’’ was all Goenka would say - maintaining it’s still early to discuss their retention strategy.

The future of Rahul with the franchise, ever since the TV footage of Goenka giving his captain a piece of his mind after a heavy loss in the 2024 season got viral on social media, had been a subject of intense speculation. The damage control machinery of LSG was in full swing as chief coach Justin Langer dismissed it as a ‘storm in an espresso cup,’ while a photo of the LSG owner receiving Rahul at the his residence for dinner was also in circulation.

It’s no longer a secret that Rahul was also in Kolkata for a courtesy call earlier this month to meet Goenka – and informed sources say that it was conveyed to the senior Indian batter that he would not be a preferred choice anymore to carry on with the captaincy. At best, the prolific scorer in IPL may be retained as a batter-keeper if the new guidelines suit the management.

Not an honourable position for Rahul at all, whose utility in the T20 format was further undermined after he was not considered for the T20 World Cup side which ended India’s trophy drought in the Caribbean. This, despite the classy Karnataka batter having amassed 4683 IPL runs from 132 matches across a number of franchises like Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings and now LSG.

In the last five seasons, Rahul’s sequence of aggregate scores read 520, 274, 616, 626 and 670 at a strike rate of 134.61 – the latter being often held against Rahul vis-à-vis his suitability in franchise cricket. A sheer delight to watch when in full swing, the batter’s efficiency in masterminding steep chases had been questioned frequently – along with the dubious label of being a ‘soft’ captain.

Interestingly enough, it was not bar for LSG which had gone over the top with a price tag of Rs 17 crore to acquire Rahul ahead of their debut season. In the ruthless world of IPL, nothing succeeds like success and it may be worth reminding that the same ownership had removed a certain M.S. Dhoni from captaincy of the now defunct Pune Super Giant due to a single poor season.

Plan B

Is there a Plan B for Rahul? While there is a possibility of LSG still going for him in the RTM card (right to match) or open bids as it would then mean a lesser price tag, the grapevines say that the luckless Royal Challengers may go for him if released. RCB, whose dismal run simply refuses to change, will not have captain Faf du Plessis anymore while stumper Dinesh Karthik has officially become their batting mentor. The talismanic Virat Kohli, meanwhile, is now done with any extra responsibility in this format and clearly enjoying batting without the pressure of captaincy – and this where ‘KL’ can provide a three-in-one solution for them.

Rahul the batter-keeper-captain may not be a bad bargain as he will have the reassuring presence of Kohli when it comes to leadership. It will also be a homecoming of sorts for the 32-year-old as he is a Bangalore boy at the end of the day.

However, the next few months may see a lot of churn ahead of the mega auction in December – which may see wholesale changes in the look and feel of the 10 teams!