IPL Auction 2025: KL Rahul's 'shock' LSG return on cards? Justin Langer makes huge claim

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) head coach Justin Langer has made a huge statement on the strategy of the franchise when they head into the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction.

LSG head coach Justin Langer has stated that the franchise would be looking to bring back the players from the auction, who represented the team in the previous seasons.

KL Rahul released by Lucknow Super Giants

Lucknow Super Giants shockingly released their skipper, KL Rahul, ahead of the mega auction. The Karnataka superstar was chosen as the captain of the Lucknow Super Giants when the franchise made its debut in IPL 2022.

His presence was vital for LSG as he made terrific contributions with the bat and the Super Giants also qualified for the playoffs in two out of their three seasons.

KL Rahul is also the only LSG player to score over 1000 runs in the league. In 38 matches for the Lucknow Super Giants, KL Rahul scored 1410 runs at an average of 41.47 and a strike rate of 130.67.

Despite his success with the franchise, KL Rahul was released as some reports claimed that the owner, Sanjiv Goenka, wasn't happy with Rahul's strike rate and his leadership. Other reports claimed that the India star KL Rahul decided to leave Lucknow Super Giants due to personal and professional reasons.

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Nicholas Pooran picked as LSG's top retention

The West Indies National Cricket Team power-hitter Nicholas Pooran was picked as the top retention of the Lucknow Super Giants ahead of the mega auction. He was retained for a whopping INR 21 crore.

Other than him, LSG retained Ravi Bishnoi (Rs 11 crore), Mayank Yadav (Rs 11 crore), Mohsin Khan (Rs 4 crore) and Ayush Badoni (Rs 4 crore). LSG have spent INR 51 crore on their retentions and will enter the mega auction with a purse of INR 69 crore and 20 slots to fill.

We are hoping to pick up as many of our players as possible from last year in the auction - Justin Langer

Speaking in a video shared by Lucknow Super Giants on X, Justin Langer stated that they have retained a strong Indian group along with dynamic player Nicholas Pooran.

Justin Langer also dropped a hint about the potential reacquisition of KL Rahul, saying that they will be looking to rope in players who have represented LSG previously.

"We are really pleased with announcing the four of the most talented Indian players in the country at the moment. We are setting a base for those strong Indian players -- Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Ayush Badoni, Mohsin Khan -- four incredibly talented players and I'm excited about that," Langer said.

"Nicholas Pooran is a dynamic player in world cricket and we can't wait to see him in action again. We have got one more Right To Match (RTM) and we are hoping to pick up as many of our players as possible from last year in the auction."

"Mr Goenka has thought long and hard about this and like I have said, we have talked over and over all the possibilities," the former Australia opener said.

"The retention for next year's IPL was really tough. There were lots of very careful deliberations, strong considerations to come up list of retentions," Langer added.