Sanjiv Goenka, the owner of the Lucknow Super Giants, referred to KL Rahul as "an integral part of the franchise" amid ongoing speculation regarding the player's future with the team. However, he remained non-committal about decisions on player retention and captaincy for the upcoming IPL season.
Goenka’s lively conversation with Rahul following a significant loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad became a major talking point during last season’s IPL. Recently, Rahul met with the owner in Kolkata and reiterated his desire to stay with the team, months after their previous discussion fueled rumours about his continuation with the franchise.
"I’ve been meeting KL regularly for the past three years, so I’m a bit surprised that this particular meeting attracted so much attention. As I’ve said, we haven’t made any decisions until the retention rules are announced," Goenka told reporters while introducing Zaheer Khan as their new team mentor.
"He has been a crucial part of the LSG family since the beginning, playing a significant role. He’s like family to us and will continue to be," Goenka added. When asked about plans for player retention and the leadership role, he emphasised that no conclusions have been reached and they are waiting for the BCCI to unveil the retention policies.
"We have all of September, October, and November to figure that out. Let's wait for the rules to come out. We haven’t even contemplated the team's future structure regarding retention—whether it will be three, four, five, or six players—we’re not sure at this point," Goenka stated.
"There’s plenty of time, so we’ll take it step by step. Any decisions made today will affect our medium-term future, so they need to be well-considered and deliberate."
When questioned if the team would adopt a "reset mode" with the newly appointed mentor Zaheer Khan, Goenka replied, "Improvement is always a constant goal. During a mega auction, a reset is inevitable, but we aim to retain our core team as much as possible. It remains to be seen how it will develop."
He confirmed that the coaching staff, including head coach Justin Langer, assistant coach Lance Kluesener, and fielding coach Jonty Rhodes, will continue in their roles. Goenka expressed his happiness regarding Morne Morkel and Gautam Gambhir joining the national team.
Rahul has led LSG to the playoffs in their first two seasons. However, it is often believed that Gambhir’s strategic insights greatly contributed to their success, rather than Rahul’s leadership, which faced scrutiny during the third season when they failed to reach the playoffs.