KL Rahul To Be Replaced As LSG Captain, Confirms Amit Mishra For IPL 2025

Amit Mishra, the spinner for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), has confirmed that KL Rahul will be removed as the team's captain before the IPL 2025 season. The experienced leg-spinner stated that LSG would "hundred percent" seek a better captain.

LSG finished seventh in the 10-team IPL 2024, winning only seven out of their 14 league matches. Amit Mishra believes that the team needs a captain with the right mentality for T20 cricket. "It does not matter if he is in the Indian team or not. But a person who has the right mentality for T20s should be the captain. Someone who plays for the team should be captain. I am sure LSG will look for a better captain," Mishra said during his interaction with Subhankar Mishra on his YouTube show 'Unplugged'.

The IPL 2025 mega auction is set to take place later this year, and KL Rahul might be released from the LSG squad. Nicholas Pooran is expected to be a strong contender to replace KL Rahul as captain.

The 41-year-old also discussed LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka's animated conversation with KL Rahul after their loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in an IPL 2024 match. In that game, LSG scored 165 runs, but SRH chased it down in just 9.4 overs without losing any wickets.

Mishra mentioned that even he was shocked by what was happening and went to sit in the team bus 30 minutes before the game ended. However, he clarified that Goenka did not harshly reprimand Rahul as reported by some media outlets.

"Goenka was disappointed. We lost two back-to-back matches very badly. Against KKR, we lost by some 90-100 runs and against SRH, the match was finished within 10 overs. It felt like we were bowling them during a net practice session. If I am so angry about it, will someone who has actually put money into the team not feel angry?" Mishra, who played for LSG in 2024, said.

"It was not a huge deal. But I later came to know that he said that the bowling was very bad and the team should have shown some fight. It looked like you have completely surrendered. But I feel people and media hyped it up a bit," he added.

Mishra explained that Goenka's reaction was natural and justified given his investment in the team.