Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar opines that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) would look to poach the wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul during the next IPL 2025 mega auction now that Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have dropped their captain.
The LSG have retained Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, and Ayush Badoni as part of the squad while releasing the services of captain Rahul. In the meanwhile, both RCB and CSK retained three and five players respectively.
RCB retained Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Yash Dayal and CSK retained Ruturaj Gaikwad, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni. Both teams go into the auction with plenty of money in their pockets—RCB Rs 83 crore and CSK Rs 55 crore, and they need to make 22 and 20 signings, respectively.
"I do believe that the two south franchises, Bengaluru as well as Chennai will go for KL Rahul. Even Hyderabad may go for him, but Bangalore of course is KL Rahul's hometown. So undoubtedly he will feel enthused; he will be encouraged; he will want to play in front of his home crowd. So Bengaluru might go for KL Rahul," said Gavaskar on Star Sports.
Meanwhile, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar shared his thoughts on the future of David Warner, the globally renowned hitter. He remarked, “It’s been a few years since David Warner’s performances have been great.
But he is still a great player. When Devon Conway was released in CSK, I’m sure they will buy him back. They are quite influenced by Rachid Ravindra as well. I don't think they are gonna be interested in getting David Warner into their plans. I don't think David Warner can fit in CSK.
Manjrekar also gives his view on why Punjab Kings may have let Arshdeep Singh go and thinks that the team is looking to restructure its core. "I believe that they have released a lot of players so that they get some freedom". And the core of the team and the combination of the team should change completely. But they will definitely be interested in Arshdeep Singh. I believe there is a slight difference in today's Arshdeep Singh and 5 years ago's Arshdeep Singh. But he can still give you a wicket with a new ball. And you can still expect from him in the slog overs as well. So though Punjab Kings have released him, they will surely be after Arshdeep in the mega auctions.
Further, Manjrekar addressed Mohammed Shami’s injury concerns and their potential impact on his auction price. “There will definitely be interest from teams, but given Shami’s injury history—and this recent one took a significant amount of time to recover—there’s always a concern about a potential breakdown during the season. If a franchise invests heavily and then loses him mid-season, their options become limited. This concern might lead to a drop in his price tag,” he said.
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