IPL 2025 Auction: KL Rahul Set To Be Released By LSG; Mayank Yadav Likely To Be Retained

Lucknow Super Giants are all set to release KL Rahul ahead of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction and will also retain three players.

Hyderabad: Lucknow Super Giants are all set to release KL Rahul ahead of the mega auction for the upcoming season according to a report by Times of India. Young pace sensation Mayank Yadav is one of the retentions while Caribbean swash-buckling batter Nicholas Pooran and Indian leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi are the other players to be retained.

Rahul has captained the franchise for three IPL seasons but the report mentions that the team management is not happy with the strike rate of the 32-year-old.

“The LSG management, including mentor Zaheer Khan and coach Justin Langer, has analyzed his stats and it has emerged that the team has almost lost all matches where KL has batted long and scored runs. That indicates that his strike rate doesn't match the momentum of the game. With the Impact Player rule, the scores are getting higher. You can't afford to have someone taking so much time at the top of the order," IPL sources told TOI.

Although, the franchise is likely to release Rahul, bidding for him is the option LSG can opt for.

“Mayank is LSG's find. They invested in him when no one knew of him and he has shown what kind of impact he can have on a match," IPL sources said

The report further adds that LSG might consider the option of retaining Ayush Badoni and left-arm seamer Mohsin Khan as uncapped players.

The new retention rules allows franchises retaining up to six players for the IPL 2025 mega auction. Thus, choice of retentions by IPL franchises has become a topic of discussion in the cricket fraternity.