LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka refutes rift claims between him and KL Rahul

Goenka has been facing criticism ever since he was seen scolding Rahul on camera during IPL 2024

The founder of RPSG Group and the owner of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Sanjiv Goenka, in his interview with Cricbuzz, dismissed media reports of a rift between him and cricketer KL Rahul on Wednesday.

The rumours of KL Rahul leaving the LSG squad before IPL 2025 have been making the rounds ever since Goenka was caught scolding Rahul on camera after the match between LSG and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) during IPL 2024, where SRH chased down the 167-run target set by LSG in just 9.4 overs, with openers Travis Head (89 not out) and Abhishek Sharma (75 not out) going berserk to win the match by 10 wickets.

Fans and experts publicly criticised Goenka after the match for his behaviour with the Indian international cricketer.

However, Goenka has now cleared the air by saying there is no rift between him and Rahul, and they are in regular contact. He stated that Rahul has been part of the LSG family since its inception in 2022 and that he respects him for leading the side for three years. However, on the question of whether LSG will retain Rahul or not, Goenka said that he can only clarify his stance after a discussion with team management, and they have three months to make the decision.

Goenka, who owned the Rising Pune Supergiants team in 2016 and 2017, was under fire when he removed MS Dhoni from the captaincy role and replaced him with Steve Smith in 2017. Goenka’s decision was not well accepted by the fans, who accused him of disrespecting the legend with his decision.

Earlier, LSG added Zaheer Khan as a mentor starting IPL 2025. He was, until 2024, part of the Mumbai Indians management.