File photo of KL Rahul (right) with LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka.© X (formerly Twitter)
The last season didn't end on a happy note but senior India batter KL Rahul has expressed his intentions about being retained to Lucknow Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka although no such assurances have been given by the top boss. Rahul, a former national team vice captain, is no longer in the scheme of things as far as India's T20 format is concerned. Rahul led LSG to play-offs in the first two IPL seasons, but it was widely believed that Gautam Gambhir's strategic acumen had a lot to do with it rather than his leadership, which got thoroughly exposed in the third 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," an IPL Governing Council member, privy to developments in LSG, told PTI on the condition 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 IPL source said.
The LSG management was unavailable for a comment.
Last year, Rahul's animated conversation with Goenka, after a heavy defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad, went viral although lot of people later called it a "frank discussion between owner and skipper".
It can be said that even if Rahul is retained by LSG, chances of which are minimal at the moment, he won't be the first retention.
Retaining someone like Rahul as first option could mean a sum of Rs 18 to 20 crore (if team purse is increased) would be deducted from auction purse. No franchises, currently looking at X factor players at the top, would invest that much on Rahul.
If Royal Challengers Bengaluru were serious about taking him back, he wouldn't have come to Kolkata on his own accord. It is believed that Rahul hasn't exactly got many franchises interested with his style of batting, which is sadly outdated in T20 cricket.
Apart from that, his leadership in all franchises that he has represented hasn't exactly worked well.
Last but not the least, unlike MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma or even Rishabh Pant or Suryakumar Yadav, Rahul can't actually pull in a lot of team sponsorship. Hence Rahul might have to go back into auction where he might not be a very sought after name.
It is also understood that LSG's deal with Zaheer Khan has been finalised and he will be unveiled as a mentor soon.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)