'Sanjiv Goenka never criticised KL Rahul, media has shown too much': Former LSG player reveals details of infamous chat

Former Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) spinner Amit Mishra has defended team owner Sanjiv Goenka amid his criticism for enforcing authority over KL Rahul when he was the franchise’s captain last year. Goenka was seen having a word with Rahul in public after LSG conceded 160 runs in ten overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad last season. While very few are aware of what Goenka said to Rahul, the LSG owner has faced criticism since then for meddling too much in the affairs of the team .

Eventually, the incident led to a fallout between Goenka and Rahul as the former was released by the franchise, which spent Rs 27 crore on Rishabh Pant in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2035 mega auction in search of a new captain.

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Rahul was picked up by Delhi Capitals (DC) for Rs 14 crore at the auction, with the co-owner Parth Jindal later saying that the Indian batter wants "love and respect" from his new team , further adding fuel to the fire.

Amit Mishra defends LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka

Former India spinner Amit Mishra has now come out in support of Lucknow Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka. The 42-year-old Mishra said that the Goenka-Rahul spat in public has been blown out of proportion by the media as the businessman only asked the captain and team to show more fight and never criticised Rahul. Mishra added that Goenka never spoke in a “high tone” in his speeches to the team.

“I feel that the media has shown off a little too much. I didn’t feel that there was anything like that. But this time, I feel that the overall discussion is going on. It is not like that at all. I can say this because we were losing two matches very badly. We lost in Kolkata in an awful way. We lost the match in 11 overs. Then we went to Hyderabad, where we lost the match in 9 overs,” Mishra told Cricbuzz.

“So, if there is any owner, he says that losing is okay, but just go out there and show some fight. Fight and lose, I have no problem. This is what people told me. This is what happened. But I feel that even after losing so badly, we lost two matches more. He came to the dressing room. The owner gives motivation to the team. He never said anything wrong or said anything in a very high tone,” he added.

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Mishra also revealed that the decision-making process at LSG has changed drastically since IPL 2024, as, unlike last season, the important calls are now being taken after a discussion among the leadership group. He added that in IPL 2024, Rahul was taking all the calls on his own.

“I spoke to the coach last season, and he told me that KL Rahul is doing all the work,” Mishra said. “He is making the 11s, making all the changes, and planning. But this year, I don’t feel like that. This year, when Zaheer Khan has gone, I feel like he is talking to everyone. If you see, there is a discussion going on, they are talking to each other.

“I saw the coach Justin Langer on the pitch before the match against Mumbai Indians. He was speaking to Digvesh Rathi. So, I feel that the discussion is going well overall. I don’t feel he is very involved if you talk about the owner. Yes, he definitely wants to win. But he always stays positive when coming to the dressing room,” he added.

LSG are currently sixth in the IPL 2025 points table with five wins and the same number of defeats. Their biggest problem is the poor form of Pant, who has scored just 110 runs in 10 matches so far.

Their next match is against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Sunday.