KL Rahul Would Love to Go Back to RCB: KL Rahul wants to play in a team where he will have “some freedom” and where the “team atmosphere would be something much more balanced” than what he found at the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL 2024 season. Rahul has also played down the comments made by LSG franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka following his release.
For the first time since the IPL 2018 mega auction, KL Rahul will be up for grabs in the auction. In this period, he played for and led two franchises: the Punjab Kings (2018-2021) and LSG (2022-2024).
Rahul led LSG to the playoffs in IPL 2022 and 2023 but couldn’t take it to the final. In IPL 2024, LSG finished 7th in the points table, missing out on a playoff spot only on NRR.
But it’s his batting that came under scrutiny—he scored 520 runs but at a strike rate of 136, which was well under par in what was a really high-scoring, record-breaking IPL season. After releasing Rahul, Goenka said he wanted to keep “players who have a mindset to win” and those who “put the team before their personal goals and aspirations.”
KL Rahul Speaks After Releasing From LSG
Rahul has played down these comments from the LSG owner, saying,
“No, I mean, I think the decision was made already, and I don’t know what the comments are, but they must have come after the announcement.”
By his remarks, it seems that Rahul, too, was keen to leave LSG and join a new franchise.
Speaking with Star Sports, he said,
“I just felt like I wanted to start fresh, I wanted to explore my options, and I wanted to go and play where I could find some freedom, and the team atmosphere would be something much more balanced.
“We tried that at LSG with Andy Flower [head coach] and GG [Gautam Gambhir, mentor] first, and then last year with [new head coach, Justin] Langer, we tried to create that in the change room. I think it was a brilliant atmosphere in the change room. I think sometimes you just need to move away and find something good for yourself.”
KL Rahul Would Love to Go Back to RCB
Rahul had a breakthrough IPL season in 2016 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, which is his hometown team. As a rising star batting in the middle order, he scored 397 runs at an average of 44 and strike rate of 146 with four fifties.
RCB fans are rooting for the franchise to bring back Rahul; with the release of Faf du Plessis and Dinesh Karthik, RCB need a captain, an opener, and a wicketkeeper—three roles Rahul could fill by himself. Rahul would love to return to RCB.
He said,
“I most enjoyed playing at RCB. It’s also home. Yeah, of course, like I said, the people there know me as a local Kannada boy, and it would be nice to go back there and get an opportunity again. But yeah, it’s an auction year, so you can go anywhere.”
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