In the latest chapter to the long-drawn KL Rahul-Lucknow Super Giants saga, the Uttar Pradesh-based Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise will reportedly release the India middle-order batter for the upcoming mega auction. Rahul led LSG in their first three IPL seasons, but his strike rate is apparently a cause of concern for the team management. (More Cricket News)
"The LSG management, including mentor Zaheer Khan and coach Justin Langer, has analysed 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," a Times of India report quoted IPL sources as saying.
The report adds that LSG have not ruled out bidding for Rahul at the auction, however. The franchise could decide on the day of the auction regarding their approach for Rahul.
The latest development follows speculation that Rahul could be headed to Royal Challengers Bengaluru. In a video that went viral on the Internet last month, an RCB fan was seen talking to Rahul about the rumours of his return to the Bengaluru franchise. Rahul replied to the fan: "let's hope so".
The rumour mill has been buzzing ever since LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka was seen having an animated chat with Rahul after his team's loss last season. Recently, Goenka said that Rahul remains a part of their 'family' but neither confirmed his retention nor announced the release of the wicket-keeper batter.
Mayank Yadav To Be Retained Instead?
Meanwhile, the aforementioned report added that Indian pace sensation Mayank Yadav will be among LSG's top three retentions, along with compatriot leggie Ravi Bishnoi and West Indian batter Nicholas Pooran. The report cited IPL sources as saying that the LSG team management feels that Mayank is one for the future and could even be ahead of Bishnoi in the retention list.
"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," the report quoted IPL sources as saying, adding that LSG are trying to preserve as much of the purse as possible.
