KL Rahul will not be part of the Delhi Capitals starting XI in today's IPL 2025 match against the Lucknow Super Giants, at Visakhapatnam on March 24.
Delhi Capitals are opening their IPL 2025 campaign at their adopted home venue of Visakhapatnam, against the Lucknow Super Giants. For the game, they will be without Rahul. According to an ESPNCricinfo report, Rahul has not travelled to the venue.
Follow today’s IPL 2025 match live here.
Part of the build-up around the game had been around Rahul, who would have taken in the field against the team he had led in the last three seasons. Interestingly, LSG captain Rishabh Pant had led DC in 2024 as well. However, unlike Pant and DC, the end of Rahul’s stint with LSG did not end on a high.
Towards the end of the season, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka was spotted having an animated conversation with Rahul on the field. The matter drew some attention, and even Mohammed Shami was vocal in Goenka’s criticism.
Why is KL Rahul not playing?
While little other than “personal reasons” is known about Rahul’s absence, a Cricbuzz report quoted Rahul’s family friend: “He has returned home to be with his wife, as the baby is expected any time. However, he is certain to be available for the team's next game.”
According to the same report, Rahul is likely to feature in DC’s second game of IPL 2025, against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the same venue on March 30.
Later in the evening, Rahul’s wife Athiya Shetty confirmed on Instagram that the couple had indeed been blessed with a daughter.
Playing XIs for DC vs LSG:
Delhi Capitals: Axar Patel (c), Abishek Porel (wk), Faf du Plessis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar.
Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant (c), Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Ayush Badoni, Nicholas Pooran, David Miller, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi.
