LSG gears up for IPL-2025 season action: Captain KL Rahul meets owner Sanjiv Goenka on squad addition changes

As discussions around IPL retention intensify, Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul visited the franchise’s Kolkata office on Monday for a meeting with owner Sanjiv Goenka. The meeting, held at Goenka’s office on Judges Court Road, Alipore, lasted approximately one hour.

This meeting was the first formal interaction between Rahul and Goenka since their animated conversation following the loss to Sun Risers Hyderabad on May 8.

While the specifics of the discussion remain undisclosed, Cricbuzz understands that the meeting was centred around team composition and the potential retention of Rahul. The franchise is reportedly eager to retain the India wicketkeeper-batter, though there have been no clear signals from Rahul’s camp.Speculation about Rahul’s potential return to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) remain unconfirmed. And the auction dynamics are such that there is no guarantee a franchise can buy a player it pursues with certainty.

For the record, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has yet to announce the official retention policy, and it remains unclear how many players each team will be allowed to retain. Additionally, the Right to Match (RTM) option is another factor that could influence a franchise’s decision around top retentions.

Rahul’s visit comes amid news of the franchise’s plans to bring in Zaheer Khan as a mentor, a development first reported by Cricbuzz on August 19. The appointment of the former India pacer as the mentor is expected to be confirmed soon, with Zaheer likely to work alongside Justin Langer, who will continue in his role as head coach.

Rahul has played for LSG for three seasons, all as captain. He was recently part of India’s ODI squad that toured Sri Lanka and will soon be seen competing in the Duleep Trophy in Bengaluru, where he will represent Team A, captained by Shubman Gill.