KL Rahul is most probably heading to Royal Challengers Bengaluru as the franchise has made him their number-one target in the upcoming IPL 2025 mega auction. He is set to be released by Lucknow Super Giants after head coach Justin Langer and mentor Zaheer Khan didn’t show interest in retaining him because of his low strike rate in the tournament.
RCB will also retain Virat Kohli and Mohammed Siraj as its top two retentions. Yash Dayal is also expected to play for the franchise in the 18th season.
According to RevSportz, RCB will bid for KL Rahul. If the franchise gets its primary target, he will be the new captain of the Bengaluru-based team.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru will also bid for either Rishabh Pant or Ishan Kishan in the auction. According to some reports, the Delhi Capitals don’t want to retain their captain, and the same is true for Ishan Kishan, who is expected to leave the Mumbai Indians.
RCB are looking for a captain, as Faf du Plessis is 40 years old, and the management wants a skipper who can continue for a long time.
Rahul has already played for the team from 2013-2016, scoring 417 runs at an average of 37.90 and a strike rate of 145.29 in 19 matches.
Rahul also represented Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings before LSG appointed him as their captain in 2022. Lucknow made it to the playoffs in 2022 and 2023 but didn’t do well in the previous season.