“Feels like you're being interrogated” - KL Rahul on dealing with people at ownership levels as IPL captain

KL Rahul, an Indian batter-keeper who has played for five teams over his career, has played a significant role in the Indian Premier League (IPL). During his tenure in the league, he has also served as captain of two teams. 

After serving as captain of the Punjab Kings for two seasons, he went on to captain the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for another two seasons. Prior to the IPL 2026 auction, the Delhi Capitals team recently decided to keep Rahul. 

Despite being one of the top players in the IPL, Rahul struggled as a captain; LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka even publicly rebuked him after an IPL 2024 match.  

Several videos of Goenka losing his temper at Rahul went viral on the internet after LSG's humiliating 10-wicket loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad, in which they posted 165/4 and SRH chased it down in just 9.4 overs without losing any wickets. Despite becoming LSG's top run scorer in IPL 2024, Rahul was not retained by the team prior to the IPL 2025 mega auction.

Rahul, who has captained India in all three of the game's formats, has never discussed the incident in public, but he recently talked about the difficulties of leading an IPL squad in an interview with sports journalist and analyst Jatin Sapru. 

Although he didn't specifically name Goenka, he implied that he was to responsible for the team's defeats.

“What I found hard as a captain in the IPL was the number of meetings that you needed to do, the number of reviews that you needed to do, and the number of things that you needed to explain at the ownership level. All of that is really like energy draining. So, I realized at the end of IPL that I am more mentally and physically drained than after playing 10 months of international cricket," Rahul told Sapru. 

“There are so many things. Coaches and captains, you’re just constantly being asked a lot of questions, and after a point, it almost feels like you’re being questioned as to why you made this change. Why did Jatin play in the XI? Why is it that the opposition got 200, and we couldn’t even get 120? Why are their bowlers getting more spin?” he added.

Rahul went on to say that the ownership and management level, which lacks cricket experience, is the only source of these inquiries. He said that because they understand why things happen, the coaches and team managers never question the leadership.

“I mean, these are questions that we never get asked throughout the year, right? This is due to the fact that the coaches in charge are well-informed about the current situation. You’re only answerable to the coach and the selectors, who’ve all played cricket and understand the nuances of cricket and sport. No matter what you do and how many boxes you tick, there’s nothing in sport that guarantees victory. So that’s the hard part to explain to people who come from a non-sporting background," he added.

KL Rahul was retained by Delhi Capitals ahead of IPL 2026 auction and is rumored to become the next captain as well.

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