KL Rahul's departure was confirmed as Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) announced their retentions ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. Instead, a whopping Rs 21 cr was awarded to West Indian batter Nicholas Pooran, who is their highest retention. Under the captaincy of KL Rahul, LSG qualified for the Playoffs in 2022 and 2023. However in 2024, they failed to reach the knockout stage. West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran has been retained as the top priority player for Rs 18 crore. The team has parted ways with KL Rahul, who will now be going under the hammer in the auctions.
Franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka spoke about wanting to retain players who put the franchise first, as he spoke about his team's retentions after the announcement.
KL Rahul has gone from one of the IPL's most prized openers to a player who is now often criticised for his strike rate at the top.
Goenka also revealed that it took "less than two minutes" for the team management to decide Nicholas Pooran as their No. 1 retention. Pooran is the highest T20 run-scorer of 2024 across international games and franchise games.
Pace sensation Mayank Yadav and leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi have both been retained for Rs 11 crore each. The Indian core at LSG will also be added to by pacer Mohsin Khan and batter Ayush Badoni, who have been named as uncapped retentions.
With one Right to Match (RTM) card in their kitty heading into the IPL 2024 auction, Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis may be the favourite to have that used on.
The likes of Quinton de Kock, Devdutt Padikkal, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Hooda, Naveen-ul-Haq, Shamar Joseph and Amit Mishra have been released by LSG.
PLAYERS RETAINED:
1. Nicholas Pooran (Rs 21 cr)
2. Ravi Bishnoi (Rs 11 cr)
3. Mayank Yadav (Rs 11 cr)
4. Mohsin Khan (Rs 4 cr - uncapped)
5. Ayush Badoni (Rs 4 cr - uncapped)
AUCTION BUDGET: Rs 69 cr
RTMs available: 1
Players released: KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Kyle Mayers, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Devdutt Padikkal, Naveen-ul-Haq, Krunal Pandya, Yudhvir Singh, Prerak Mankad, Yash Thakur, Amit Mishra, Mark Wood, K. Gowtham, Shivam Mavi, Arshin Kulkarni, M. Siddharth, Ashton Turner, David Willey, Mohd. Arshad Khan.