The 2024 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season was in the news for the wrong reasons after scenes of an animated chat between Lucknow Super Giants‘ owner Sanjiv Goenka and the then captain of the team, KL Rahul, were flashed during live broadcast. More than five months since that day in May and after not being retained by LSG ahead of the coming mega auction, Rahul opened up on the issue in an interview with Star Sports.
Requiring a big win to qualify for the IPL 2024 playoffs, LSG got hammered by the Sunrisers Hyderabad, who chased down the target of 166 in mere 9.4 overs for a ten-wicket win.
Soon after the conclusion of the match, an animated Goenka was seen talking to Rahul near the team’s dugout.
“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,” Rahul recalled. “So yeah, I think it did affect the entire group.”
Rahul subsequently moved on from his association with LSG and will be in the players’ pool for the two-day IPL auction scheduled for November 24-25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
LSG has decided to retain five players, three capped and two uncapped, from their 2024 roster; namely, Nicholas Pooran (INR 21 crore), Ravi Bishnoi (INR 11 crore), Mayank Yadav (INR 11 crore), Mohsin Khan (INR 4 crore) and Ayush Badoni (INR 4 crore).
Speaking on their choices for retention, LSG owner Goenka had said: “The first retention was an automatic choice and happened within two minutes, that is Nicholas Pooran…We had a very simple mindset to go in with players who have a mindset to win, who put the team before their personal goals and aspirations.”
LSG have Rs 69 crore left in their purse for the IPL auction, besides one ‘Right to Match’ card in order to bring back one of the players part of their last roster.