IPL Auction 2025: KL Rahul makes his intentions clear for RCB with explosive 'Captaincy' remark

Star cricketer KL Rahul is one of those few big international Indian players this year who will be at the IPL auction 2025 pool. After Rahul was released by his former team Lucknow Super Giants, speculations have gathered speed about his next IPL team.

Recently, KL Rahul has expressed his desire to play for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, his former IPL team. Rahul made his IPL debut in 2013 while playing for RCB. He made a good name for himself in the 2016 season, where he reunited with RCB after spending two years with Sunrisers Hyderabad.

It is to be noted that Rahul is a local boy at Bengaluru and knows the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium quite well, having played a lot of domestic cricket there. While it is still unknown which team he will be picked for, the 32-year-old has good memories at his home ground.

Also read: Australia Legends out of IND vs AUS Perth Test in a massive blow for the Home Team

KL Rahul expresses desire to play for RCB

While speaking to Star Sports, KL Rahul expressed his intentions to play for RCB again, which will be his second stint with the franchise if he gets picked. He claimed that he has enjoyed the most when he was playing for RCB from 2013-2016.

"I most enjoyed playing at RCB. It’s home. You get to spend a lot of time to spend at home. I know the Chinnaswamy really well, I have grown up playing there. So, yeah, I really enjoyed playing at RCB," said Rahul.

Being a local Bengaluru boy excites KL Rahul to play for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He expressed his desire to go back to his former franchise but admitted that anything can happen at the auction table.

"Of course (Would you like to be back at RCB?) Bengaluru is home. People there know me as a local Kannada boy. Would be nice to go back there and get an opportunity. But, yeah, it’s an auction year, you can go anywhere," he added.

KL Rahul in IPL 2016

KL Rahul played a key role in RCB's race to the IPL 2016 final. He scored 397 runs in 14 matches at an average of 44.11 and a strike rate of 146.49. Interestingly, he batted at No. 4 in the season given the top-heavy batting line-up of RCB.

However, the team lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final, bringing their fairytale journey to an end. It was a heartbreaking loss for RCB, who were so close to winning their maiden IPL title.

KL Rahul and Virat Kohli discuss about IPL 2016 final

In the conversation, KL Rahul also spoke about the heartbreaking memories of the IPL 2016 final and claimed that Kohli and he still discuss it. Virat Kohli was the highest run-getter in IPL 2016 with 973 runs in 16 matches.

Kohli scored these runs at an average of 81.08 and a strike rate of 152.03 with four hundreds. It is still a record for the most no. of runs scored in an IPL season by a batter.

"It's a long time ago, but it’s still fresh in my memories. I and Virat (Kohli) always talked about it a few times and 2016 is always a reminder that had one of us played a little longer, it would have been very different. It would have been a fairytale to be right at the bottom to win seven games to qualify and then win the final at home," Rahul said.

The IPL 2025 auction is scheduled to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on November 24 and 25. Alongside Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Yuzvendra Chahal are some of the other big names in the auction pool.