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KL Rahul took a massive dig at Sanjiv Goenka, the owner of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), while revealing the reason behind his parting ways with the franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.

KL Rahul was bought in the draft ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction by LSG, who were one of the two new franchises added to the IPL that year. Under his captaincy, LSG made it into the playoffs in IPL 2022 and 2023.

However, things turned worse in IPL 2024 when LSG was under fire for their poor strike rate as other teams were hammering scores of 250 regularly.

Everything came to a boiling point when Sunrisers Hyderabad chased down LSG’s 168 runs in under 10 overs in an IPL 2024 match in Hyderabad. In the aftermath, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka was seen verbally lashing at a helpless KL Rahul right in the middle of the ground.

Since then, speculations have been rife about KL Rahul leaving the franchise, despite Rahul meeting Goenka at his residence in Kolkata after IPL 2024.

“I wanted to start fresh, I wanted to explore my options”- KL Rahul on leaving LSG

The Lucknow Super Giants made their list of retained players public, just like the other teams, however, their skipper, KL Rahul, was left off. Rahul will now be among the top Indian players at the IPL 2025 mega auction as a result.

While ending their three-year relationship with Rahul, LSG kept Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, and Nicholas Pooran. Goenka, the owner of LSG, talked about the retention decision and stated that the goal was to acquire players who had a winning mindset.

And now KL Rahul took a dig at Goenka while talking about his decision to move on from LSG.

“The decision was made already. I don’t know what the comments are but they must have come after the retentions were made. Just felt like I wanted to start fresh, I wanted to explore my options and I wanted to play somewhere I can find some freedom and team atmosphere would be something lighter, much more balanced, pressure is already very high in the IPL,” Rahul told Star Sports.

Rahul emphasized why a team should maintain a balanced environment regardless of the outcome, a skill he believes teams like the Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans have perfected.

“You see teams like Gujarat Titans, CSK and all of these teams, and you see, whether they win or lose, they seem very balanced; they stay very calm; that’s something very important for me as a player. If that happens, I feel like it gives all the players the best chance to perform,” he added.

You need to move away and find something good: KL Rahul

Rahul further said that he also tried to create a similar atmosphere at LSG with the coaches, but it was time for him to move on and find something good for himself.

“We tried it first at LSG with Andy Flower and GG, last year we had Justin Langer. I think it was a brilliant atmosphere in the dressing room but somehow, you need to move away and need to find something good for yourself,” he concluded.

KL Rahul will have a base price of INR 2 crores in the IPL 2025 mega auction that will take place on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

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