One of the biggest names to have not been retained ahead of the IPL 2025 is KL Rahul. The star batter was the captain of the Lucknow Super Giants for the past few seasons. However, he will now join the auction pool. LSG’s retained players are Nicholas Pooran (Rs 21 crore), Ravi Bishnoi (Rs 11 crore), Mayank Yadav (Rs 11 crore), Mohsin Khan (Rs 4 crore) and Ayush Badoni (Rs 4 crore). Talking about the retentions, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka gave an interesting take.
“It was a simple mindset to go in for players, who have a mindset to win, who put the team before their personal goals and personal aspirations,” said Sanjiv Goenka.
“Our first retention which was an automatic choice, happened within like less than two minutes. We have two uncapped retentions that is Mohsin Khan and Ayush Badoni. It was a process that Zaheer Khan, Justin Langer and the analyst and the CEO engaged in.
“We have went with three bowlers from previous seasons, all Indians. Pooran was a no-brainer for everyone. Ayush has done well for us at No.6 or No.7.”
The comment regarding ‘personal goals and personal aspirations’ was trolled a lot on social media. Several users found a ‘KL Rahul connection’ in it. Even former India player Dodda Ganesh was unhappy with the comment.
What a silly thing to say. Throwing all the players, not retained under the bus. https://t.co/Ha0fw84OmI
— Dodda Ganesh | (@doddaganesha) October 31, 2024
And meets KL twice and giving first retention offer . Now need winning mindset not personal aspirants . This is Goenka for you guys
— Venky (CHINNA)🇮🇳 (@Call_me_VenkY1) October 31, 2024
Woah! Sanjeev Goenka with some strong statements on LSG’s retentions
“We have retained players who play for the team, and not for their personal milestones” #IPL2025 #IPLAuction
— Peeyush Sharma (@peeyushsharmaa) October 31, 2024
LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka “We wanted a player who have the mindset to win.We wanted to retain a player who puts the team first ahead of their personal milestones.”
But he released selfless player KL Rahul who used to play for the team.pic.twitter.com/awgnFD8sXG
— Sujeet Suman (@sujeetsuman1991) October 31, 2024
Ahead of the IPL retention, a report in PTI quoted a source as saying that Rahul’s batting style was the reason behind him being not retained.
“The only consideration at LSG was performance in the last three years and especially Rahul’s own batting style and strike rate which are important variables while a decision is arrived at,” a source tracking development in LSG told PTI on Wednesday.
“So Langer and Zaheer sat with all the numbers… Rahul’s SR for three years with LSG is 136.13 (616 runs), 113.23 (274) and 135.38 (520). In today’s T20, when even Indian team had to change its philosophy, these numbers weren’t acceptable,” the source added.
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