Sanjiv Goenka publicly expresses his 'true feelings' about 'shareef' KL Rahul, former LSG captain

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka has expressed his heartfelt sentiments towards KL Rahul, stating that the cricketer will always hold a special place in his heart despite their strained relationship towards the end of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Rahul's departure from the franchise was a notable highlight of the 2025 IPL auction, but Goenka emphasized that Rahul will forever be considered a part of the LSG family.

"KL Rahul has always been family for me and he will remain that way. He captained Lucknow for three years and have shown great results during his tenure. I genuinely wish for his success, no matter what happens," Goenka said on the TRS podcast.

Goenka said that he wishes Rahul's talent continues to be shown to the world. "Shareef insan hai (He is a good person)," said Goenka. "He is a very honest and decent person and I wish that everything good happens to an honest person like him. He is also very talented and I wish he displays his talent to the world. I am very sure he will do well. My best wishes are with him."

LSG chose not to retain Rahul and the wicketkeeper-batter went to Delhi Capitals for INR 14 crore. Shortly after the retentions were announced, Goenka said in a video that the has retained players "who put the team first before their personal goals".

"It was a simple mindset to go in with players who have a mindset to win, who put the team first before their personal goals and personal aspirations and we wanted to retain as much as of core we could," he had said.

While this added fuel to the fire, stories of their rift going public stem from the fact that Goenka had a very animated discussion with Rahul after LSG lost a match last season. TV cameras captured Goenka was seen gesturing with his hands at Rahul, as the latter just stood there. This chat came minutes after LSG suffered a ten-wicket hiding at the hands of SRH at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Rahul later said that he wasn't aware of Goenka's comments but he personally wanted to start afresh which is why he felt a move was necessary. "The decision was made already. I don't know what the comments are but they must have come after the retentions were made. Just felt like I wanted to start fresh, I wanted to explore my options and I wanted to play somewhere I can find some freedom and team atmosphere would be something lighter, much more balanced, pressure is already very high in the IPL," Rahul told Star Sports.