New Delhi: The Punjab Kings were keen to hold on to their captain KL Rahul but the vice-captain of the Indian T20 Team had other plans for the India Premier League (IPL) 2022. There were speculations going around that Rahul will not feature in the retention list of PBKS. The swashbuckling opener from Karnataka chose to put himself back in the mega auction to be held in January.
According to reports, Rahul is already in talks with the Sanjiv Goenka-owned Lucknow franchise and is being paid around Rs 20 crore to become the new team captain. There are also reports that Rahul and Rashid Khan could face the IPL ban by contacting other franchises before the retention list was out.
Following the retention announcement, Anil Kumble, the director of cricket operations of PBKS, revealed that the franchise wanted to retain Rahul but he moved on. “Obviously we wanted to retain him, that is one of the reasons we chose him as captain two years back. But he decided to go into the auction. We respect that, we honour his decision. It’s the player’s prerogative,” Kumble told Star Sports.
Thoughts from the Head of the Head Coach! 😎
Listen in to @anilkumble1074 🗣#SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings #IPL2022Retention #IPLRetention pic.twitter.com/kO3EX1scg2
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) November 30, 2021
Rahul’s departure from PBKS does not mean he will necessarily return to the auction. The opener reportedly attracted the attention of two new IPL franchises and may lead a group based in Lucknow. Two new IPL franchises have the option of selecting three pre-auction players between December 1 and 25.
The most successful opener since arriving at PBKS, Rahul has scored 659, 593, 670 and 626 runs in the last four editions of the T20 league. He also won the Orange Cap in the IPL 2020. The Punjab Kings, however, failed to advance to the IPL Playoffs under Rahul for last two years consecutively. The last time they qualified for the playoff was way back in 2014.
PBKS, however, made some surprise inclusions with the likes of Mayank Agrawal and Arshdeep Singh. Mayank, who is in contention to lead the Punjab in the future, will be paid Rs 12 crores. Arshdeep being an uncapped Indian player, will be paid 4 crores.
“We are going with only two retentions and building a fresh squad. Overseas players have performed well for us but we felt that we could get them back at the auction, rather than pay around Rs 10 crore for them during Retention,” Kumble added.
