KL Rahul was bought for a whopping Rs. 14 crore by the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the IPL mega auction for the year 2025. The celebrated cricketer parted ways with the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) after being the captain of the franchise for three long years. LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka, on his part, had stated to reporters that he had retained only those players who kept courtesy for teamwork above everything else. With that, Rahul has now turned over a new leaf by joining Delhi with co-owner of the franchise Parth Jindal spelunking, stating, Rahul wants “love and respect” from the new franchise.
“So he (Rahul) was like, “I just want to play cricket. I just want to get the love and support from the franchise. I just want to get the respect and I know Parth from you, I will get that. I just can’t be more excited to play for a friend and make Delhi win. I have never won (IPL). Delhi has never won. Let’s do it together”,” said Parth Jindal, in an interview to ESPNcricinfo.
According to Jindal, he had spent some better time with Rahul because he belongs to Bengaluru, and he owns Bengaluru FC.
Jindal revealed that he had spent prior time with Rahul thanks to the latter being from Bengaluru and himself being the owner of Bengaluru FC.
“It’s great to have him on join with us in this and he is very delighted with this and very thrilled to be part of Delhi with us. He’s known me for a very long period of time, a Bangalore boy. I own Bengaluru FC (in the Indian Super League), so he’s got to catch a few games with me. I know his wife Athiya (Shetty) really well. She’s been a close family friend growing up in Mumbai,” said Jindal.
Delhi Capitals had their little taste of break up with one of the greatest Indian stars, as Rishabh Pant left the franchise after a long stint of nine years just before the mega auction of IPL 2025. Ironically, Pant would later find a place in the LSG, the former franchise of Rahul.
Rahul is expected to become the new captain of the DC. However, there are names like Axar Patel and Faf du Plessis in line.
