KL Rahul is expected to step down as captain of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for the IPL 2025 season, but he is anticipated to remain with the team for the next tournament.
Rahul had a challenging IPL 2024 season. Following a defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka was seen having a vigorous discussion with Rahul on the field.
The Lucknow Super Giants missed the playoffs for the first time, despite winning seven of their 14 matches.
Rahul scored 520 runs in those 14 games, with an average of 37.14 and a strike rate of 136.12, which fell short of contemporary cricket standards. His slow batting, particularly during the powerplay, hindered the team from achieving strong starts.
Krunal Pandya and Nicholas Pooran in Race for LSG Captaincy – Report
An IANS report reveals that KL Rahul will not captain the Lucknow Super Giants for the upcoming IPL season. The former Indian captain has chosen to concentrate more on his batting.
While the new captain for IPL 2025 has not yet been named, the Lucknow Super Giants have confirmed that Rahul will stay with the team. Krunal Pandya and Nicholas Pooran are the leading candidates for the captaincy role.
“The meeting was official with the CEO Sanjiv Goenka on Monday, the captaincy and retention topics were discussed. However, Rahul is unlikely to captain the side in the upcoming edition as he wants to explore himself more as a batter. Goenka has full confidence in Rahul and he will be retained as a player, but will not be seen captaining the side,” sources close to the Lucknow-based franchise told IANS.
“We are still exploring the captaincy option but with BCCI agreeing on player retention conditions we have two players (Krunal Pandya and Nicholas Poran) in the race,” he added.
KL Rahul Last Played T20I Match During T20 World Cup 2022
The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have yet to officially comment on KL Rahul’s situation. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has also not disclosed the number of players each franchise can retain for the IPL 2025 mega auction. Given that Rahul was acquired for Rs 17 crore last season, retaining him as a first-choice player could be even more expensive.
There are speculations that Rahul might join the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) if LSG decides not to keep him. If he is not retained by LSG, Rahul will re-enter the auction pool. The 32-year-old last represented India in a T20I against England during the T20 World Cup 2022.
