Punjab Kings desperately wanted to hold on to their skipper KL Rahul but the Team India T20 vice-captain had other plans for India Premier League (IPL) 2022. Rahul was expectedly not part of PBKS list of retained cricketers after IPL 2022 Player Retention deadline on Tuesday (November 30) as the Karnataka opener has chosen to go into the mega auction pool.


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According to reports, Rahul is being pursued by Lucknow franchise and offered salary in the range of Rs 20 crore to become the captain of the new team. There are also reports that Rahul and Rashid Khan might face IPL bans for being in contact with other franchises ahead of Retention day.


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.



Rahul’s exit from PBKS doesn’t mean that he will be back in the auction yet. The opener has reportedly drawn the attention of the two new IPL franchises and is likely to lead the Lucknow-based team. The two new IPL franchises have the option of picking 3 players before the auction between December 1 and 25.


The most successful opener since arriving at PBKS, Rahul scored 659, 593, 670 and 626 runs in the past four seasons of the T20 league. He also won the Orange Cap in IPL 2020. Punjab Kings, though, have failed to progress to the IPL Playoffs under Rahul for the past two year. The last time they reached Playoff stage was back in 2014.


PBKS have retained Mayank Agarwal and uncapped Arshdeep Singh. Mayank, who is a strong contender to lead the team in the future, will be paid Rs 12 crore. Since Arshdeep is uncapped, he will receive a sum of Rs 4 crore.


“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.


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