India’s impressive performances in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy owed much to KL Rahul’s steel at the top. Against the moving ball in English conditions, the opener stood tall, scoring 532 runs at an average of 53.20, the highest for any opener across both sides and third overall behind Shubman Gill and Joe Root. Rahul’s poise in setting platforms was central to India drawing the series 2-2 away from home, a rare feat in recent Test history.
But as Rahul enjoyed his on-field success, a certain post by his former IPL franchise, Lucknow Super Giants, seemed to have irked the fans. The LSG marked the occasion with a social media collage showcasing India’s best moments from the tour. The frames brimmed with images of Gill, vice-captain Rishabh Pant, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, and pacers Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep. Pant and Akash, both LSG players, featured prominently. Missing entirely was Rahul, whose series-defining contributions could hardly be called peripheral.
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The omission was impossible to miss. Rahul had not just been consistent; he had faced the new ball in testing conditions and come away with match-shaping scores. His absence from the celebratory post appeared less like an oversight and more like an intentional exclusion, a move that did not sit well with fans and former India pacer Dodda Ganesh.
{{/usCountry}}The omission was impossible to miss. Rahul had not just been consistent; he had faced the new ball in testing conditions and come away with match-shaping scores. His absence from the celebratory post appeared less like an oversight and more like an intentional exclusion, a move that did not sit well with fans and former India pacer Dodda Ganesh.
{{/usCountry}}Ganesh made his displeasure public. “This is getting embarrassing. Couldn’t get a picture of an opener who played the new ball and scored 500+ runs,” he wrote on X as he quoted the post.
The fans, too, were equally furious at Rahul's absence.
The history behind the fallout
The tension traces back to Rahul’s exit from LSG before the IPL 2025 auction. The opener had been the franchise’s first captain, guiding them to playoff finishes in 2022 and 2023. Yet, questions over his rapport with team management lingered, especially after a public on-field argument with owner Sanjiv Goenka during the 2024 season. He was released by LSG after the season, and Rahul moved to Delhi Capitals for INR 14 crore, while Pant, who signed for a record INR 27 crore, took over LSG’s captaincy.
The leadership shift did little to change LSG’s fortunes. They finished seventh for the second season running, with Pant’s batting form sputtering until the final group game. Rahul’s new team, Delhi Capitals, began brightly but stumbled late to end fifth.