 "KL Rahul opens up on animated chat with Sanjiv Goenka in IPL: 'It affected the entire group'")
KL Rahul has finally opened up on the public chat he had with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka after a match in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. LSG, captained by Rahul, needed to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to keep their playoff hopes alive but suffered a 10-wicket loss. SRH had chased down the 166-run target inside 10 overs and at the end of the game Goenka was involved in an animated chat with Rahul , leading to controversy as a number of fans and experts slammed the business leader for taking things public.
KL Rahul opens up on public chat with LSG owner
Rahul, who was recently released by LSG ahead of the 2025 mega auction, has said that the incident wasn’t the “nicest” of things he has been part of and also impacted the whole group.
“Whatever happened on the field after the game wasn’t the nicest thing to be part of or something that anyone wants to see on the cricket field. So yeah, I think it did affect the entire group,” Rahul said to Star Sports.
LSG retained five players ahead of the IPL auction including Nicholas Pooran (Rs 21 crore), Mayank Yadav (Rs 11 crore), Ravi Bishnoi (Rs 11 crore), Ayush Badoni (Rs 4 crore), and Mohsin Khan (Rs 4 crore) but decided against retaining Rahul.
Also Read | Lucknow Super Giants IPL 2025: Full list of retained and released players
After the retention deadline, Goenka delivered a fiery comment as he said players who “put the team before their personal goals” were retained by the franchise, seemingly taking a dig at Rahul.
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More ShortsKL Rahul: ‘Wanted a fresh start’
Rahul played down Goenka’s comment in a discussion with Star Sports but added that he wanted to move on from LSG to a franchise where he could play with “freedom”.
“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,” Rahul said on Star Sports. “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.
Also Read: Full List of retentions and released players for all 10 IPL franchises
“The pressure is already there in the IPL, it’s so high. You see teams like Gujarat [Titans] and CSK [Chennai Super Kings] and all of these teams, and you see when they win or lose, they seem really balanced and the dressing room is really calm. That’s something that’s very important for me as a player. I feel like if that happens, it gives all the players the best chance to perform.
“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.”
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