KL Rahul's possible LSG fate revealed

While KLRahul has been dropped from the Pune Test against New Zealand, there is more hard news for him. According to the recent ESPNcricinfo report, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are unlikely to retain their captain for the IPL 2025. It also means that he will participate in the upcoming mega auction. 

KL Rahul is the only batter to score 1000+ runs for Lucknow Super Giants as the right-handed batter scored 1410 runs in three IPL seasons with an average of 41.47 and a strike rate of 130.67. He has scored two centuries and 10 half-centuries for the team.

KL Rahul is a consistent performer as a batter

While LSG made their IPL debut in the 2022 season, Rahul was the second most run-scorer in the tournament with 616 runs in 15 matches with an average of 53.00 and a strike rate of 141.16. Under his captaincy, LSG reached the Eliminator round before Royal Challengers Bangalore eliminated them from the tournament. 

In the IPL 2023, Rahul missed out on the second half of the season due to an injury. In that season, LSG once again failed to win the Eliminator round, while Mumbai Indians beat them in that challenge.

LSG disappointed in the IPL 2024 as they finished in seventh place and failed to reach the playoffs. Captain KL Rahul was once again the leading run-scorer for LSG in that season by scoring 520 runs in 14 matches with an average of 37.14 and a strike rate of 136.12. 

One of the major possible problems

In recent times, Rahul has been criticised for his poor strike rate and weak powerplay batting, which put pressure on the next batters in the shorter cricket format. In the IPL 2024, Rahul faced 86 dot balls in the powerplay, the second most dot balls faced in that IPL season. Overall, the right-handed batter faced 123 dot balls in that IPL season, the third most in the season. 

The LSG team management is reportedly unhappy with Rahul. After the end of the IPL 2024 match against the hosts SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), LSG owner Sanjeev Goenka had a seeming argument with the skipper Rahul. In that match, SRH chased the 166-run target in 9.4 overs without losing any wickets. It was the time when the speculation started on Rahul’s doubtful future with LSG. 

Although Goenka later called Rahul a family, LSG is unlikely to retain Rahul before the IPL 2025 mega auction. The deadline for the players’ retention is October 31.