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How’s that? A bad news could turn out to be good news for KL Rahul. The Karnataka batter may have been left out of India’s team for the T20 World Cup but one of the most popular IPL teams — the Royal Challengers Bangalore team – is eyeing to sign him as a captain from next season onwards, if they get their way. The sentiment for Rahul is so strong that a section within the BCCI is backing him to be the next ODI and Test captain of India after Rohit Sharma, if he continues to perform as a middle-order batter.
But for the next season, RCB promoters are keen to have Rahul in their squad. It could be a win-win situation for both. With the Lucknow Super Giants also keen to keep their core team intact before the mega auction – only a swap or transfer after retention could guarantee Rahul joining the RCB camp. If Rahul is at the auction, more teams will join the bandwagon because of the way he has led LSG in the last few years.
Why will LSG let go of Rahul when their coach Justin Langer is also keen to retain the core players? Insiders told CricBlogger that talks are initiated and experts are on the job to make this swap or transfer happen. At least to find a way to bring Rahul back to his home team.
Whether Rahul going back to RCB as a captain could become a reality or not will depend on how the retention rule is framed. The meeting of the franchise owners and BCCI bigwigs, after the IPL is over, will zero down on the retention clauses. With some of the big teams already not at all keen to let go of their established players on whom they have invested money over the years, it will be interesting to see what BCCI finally decides.
The IPL team owners were allowed to retain four cricketers before the last mega auction. The teams could either go for a maximum of three Indian players or a maximum of two overseas players. The three Indians retained could all be capped or uncapped or a mix of both. This rule was framed for the existing original eight teams keeping in mind two new IPL teams – LSG and Gujarat Titans – were signing into the IPL and were allowed to pick three players.
There is also a growing demand for right-to-match cards (RTM) from the teams. The RTM also allows the teams to pick their existing players at a price determined by the auction. Let’s wait and watch how RCB pluck Rahul from nowhere!
