KL Rahul Walks Away from Sanjiv Goenka and Son Despite LSG Owners' Attempts to Engage
10 days ago | 5 Views
KL Rahul was absent from the playing XI when the Delhi Capitals faced the Lucknow Super Giants in Vizag earlier this season during IPL 2025. However, it seemed destined for him to be in Lucknow on Tuesday, where he delivered an emotional performance that led the visitors to victory.
More significant than his composed innings was his reunion with LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka and his son Shashwat Goenka, which became a trending topic on social media. Rahul, familiar with the Lucknow conditions from his previous three IPL seasons with the Super Giants, utilized his experience to play a mature innings as Delhi successfully chased down 160 runs with 13 balls remaining.
He scored his third half-century of the match, remaining unbeaten at 57 off 42 balls, and in doing so, he became the fastest player in IPL history to reach 5000 runs, achieving this milestone in just 130 innings—five fewer than the previous record held by David Warner.
After the match, Goenka approached the field to congratulate Rahul, and although they shook hands, Rahul chose not to engage in conversation, giving Goenka the cold shoulder as he walked away. He similarly ignored Shaswat Goenka, who followed his father, despite their attempts to engage him.
Notably, Goenka had taken an indirect dig at Rahul during an interview with Star Sports, saying that he was rather looking to invest in players who chose team over personal goals.
"It was a simple mindset to go in with players who have a mindset to win, who put the team first before their personal goals and personal aspirations and we wanted to retain as much as of core we could," said Goenka.
Speaking to the same platform, but in a separate interview, Rahul responded to the jab, saying that he is keen on joining a team where he is given freedom and the atmosphere is better.
"The decision was made already. I don't know what the comments are but they must have come after the retentions were made. Just felt like I wanted to start fresh, I wanted to explore my options, and I wanted to play somewhere I can find some freedom and a team atmosphere would be something lighter, much more balanced, pressure is already very high in the IPL," Rahul had said in November before the mega auction.
Delhi's stunning run continues
For the fifth time in IPL history, Delhi have won six of their first eight matches in an IPL season, the last being in 2021. They qualified for the Play-Offs in each of the four previous seasons. Delhi won four in a row at the start of IPL 2025, before their juggernaut came to an end at home against Mumbai Indians.
They bounced back to winning ways after surviving a Super Over thriller against Rajasthan Royals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, before succumbing to their second defeat this season, against Gujarat Titans. Delhi, however, secured their sixth win on Tuesday after completing a double over Lucknow. They now stand second in the points table, with as many wins as Gujarat, but only separated by an inferior net run rate.
Delhi will next be in action against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at home on April 27.
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