LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka on KL Rahul's future ahead of IPL 2025: 'Don't want to comment on speculation, all I will say is...'

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka on Wednesday refrained from giving much details regarding the retention rumours surrounding skipper KL Rahul ahead of the IPL 2025 season. Rahul had met Goenka at LSG's Kolkata office on Monday , and on Wednesday, Goenka was addressing a press conference in Kolkata where Zaheer Khan was announced as the team’s new mentor.

After an IPL 2024 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in May, which LSG lost by 10 wickets, a video of Goenka and Rahul having an animated discussion at the dugout went viral. Goenka was criticised by the cricketing fraternity for the incident, and there were speculations on if Rahul would stay with the franchise in the aftermath of the incident.

However, it was later revealed to be a “frank discussion between the owner and skipper”, with Goenka hosting Rahul for dinner in May.

“I don’t want to comment on speculation. All I will say is KL Rahul is family,” Goenka said on Wednesday, as per Revsportz.

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“He (Rahul) has been there since the inception of Lucknow Super Gants. He’s led us for three years. I have gone on record before and I have no hesitation in saying this again that he wanted to win. KL is an important part of the Super Giants family. As far as retention is concerned, I don’t know. It’s not something I’m going to discuss now. That has to be confidential. There are three months to decide on this,” he told Cricbuzz.

The 32 year-old has remained the captain of LSG since their first season in 2022. He led the franchise to playoffs in 2022 and 2023, but failed to do so in 2024, with LSG finishing seventh. Current India head coach Gautam Gambhir was the team’s mentor in 2022 and 2023, but left the team to become the mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of the 2024 season.

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On Monday, news agency PTI reported saying that LSG were yet to take a stand on Rahul’s place in the squad with the BCCI yet to decide on the number of player retentions for the 2025 season.

“Yes, Rahul came to Kolkata and met Dr Goenka at RPG head office. He has clearly told Dr Goenka that he wants to be retained. However, till BCCI comes up with retention policy, LSG management wouldn’t want to chalk out their plans,” a member of the IPL Governing Council had told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

“Look, Rahul wants retention but till LSG knows how many are to be retained and what’s the new purse, they can’t commit anyone,” the source added.