LSG Owner Sanjiv Goenka Said, “he is like my family”

After the conclusion of the 17th edition of the IPL (Indian Premier League), there has been a lot of talk about Indian cricketer KL Rahul's future as captain of the Lucknow Super Giants, who performed miserably in the last edition, finishing 7th in the points table after securing just 7 wins out of 14 games, totalling 14 points. It was the first time since the inception that they failed to reach the playoffs. This has created a lot of buzz, especially after captain KL Rahul and team owner Sanjeev Goenka were seen arguing about the team's performance after the match. This has led to several speculations in the media about whether KL Rahul will be retained by LSG or not after a verbal spat with the owner, which was seen in a video.

Yesterday, speaking to the media after appointing Zaheer Khan as the mentor of the team for the next edition, the owner mentioned that LSG’s retention decision will be made with a long-term view, which will play a vital role in shaping the team over the years.

"All decisions are medium-term and need to be thought of carefully," he said. " "When you have a mega auction you are bound to have a reset. But you try and maintain as much of the core as possible. The coach Justin Langer continues, [support staff] Lance Klusener and Jonty Rhodes will also be there. So it is a question of improving and going further from where you are now."Going forward, the owner also talked about his relationship with captain KL Rahul, considering him as part of the family and mentioning that they had met several times after the last edition concluded.

Going forward, the owner also talked about his relationship with captain KL Rahul as he considered him as the part of the family and had met several times after the finish of the last edition.

Rahul, the LSG captain since the team's first IPL in 2022, was in Kolkata this week and met Goenka. Goenka did not get into the details of their conversation, but called Rahul "family".

"I have been meeting KL on and off regularly over the last three years," Goenka said. "Frankly I am surprised this meeting is getting a lot of attention [in the media]. He is integral [to LSG]. He has been here since the inception. For me personally and for [my son] Shashwat [Goenka, who is also involved in running LSG], he is like family."

However, teams are likely to know the IPL's retention rules in September, after which they will decide whom to retain, possibly with a late-November deadline, before the mega auction in IPL 2025.