The rumors of KL Rahul parting ways with Punjab Kings turned out to be true as the star batsman wasn’t retained by the franchise on Tuesday. Several reports had confirmed that KL Rahul wanted to move away from the franchise. KL Rahul, the skipper, who would have been the first choice of retention by the franchise wasn’t on the list of players retained by the franchise on Tuesday.
Punjab Kings was the only franchise that decided to retain only 2 players — Mayank Agarwal (14 crores) and the uncapped player Arshdeep Singh (4 crores). Punjab Kings will have a whopping INR 72 crore during the IPL 2022 auction.
Following the announcement on retained players, the director of cricket operations of PBKS – Anil Kumble revealed the reason behind the absence of KL Rahul’s name from the list of retained players. Speaking on Star Sports, Kumble said: “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 honor his decision. It’s the player’s prerogative.”
KL Rahul, who has established himself as one of India’s top batters currently, has been an integral part of the team. Though, under the leadership of Rahul, the team touched new heights, however, despite the stupendous efforts from the player the team failed to get their hands on the IPL trophy. Punjab Kings has failed to win the trophy despite playing in the tournament since the inaugural season in 2008.
The franchise co-owner Ness Wadia did not hide his disappointment. “He was our captain, we tried our best (to retain Rahul). We wanted him to stay but he wanted to go into the auction. He had different plans,”
