Is KL Rahul playing today's DC vs LSG IPL 2025 match?

KL Rahul is not part of Delhi Capitals' (DC) squad for their IPL 2025 clash against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Monday, March 24. The senior batter is unavailable for the match due to personal reasons.

As per a report in Cricbuzz, the Team India batter, who is expecting his first child, has received special permission from DC management to skip the match against LSG. The report added that Rahul rushed back home to Mumbai on Sunday night since his, wife Athiya Shetty, is expected to give birth soon.

The 32-year-old, who captained LSG from 2022 to 2024, was purchased by Delhi Capitals at the IPL 2025 mega auction for a whopping ₹14 crore. There was uncertainty over Rahul's availability for DC's opening match against LSG on the eve of the contest.

Speaking to the media on the eve of the game, new Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel admitted that the senior batter's availability was uncertain due to personal reasons. The all-rounder said (via ESPNcricinfo):

"Obviously, he joined the team. We don't know yet [if he'll play]. Right now we don't know if he is available or not."

Delhi Capitals will be bowling first after winning the toss against Lucknow Super Giants due to the dew factor.

---

KL Rahul's record in the IPL

Rahul made his IPL debut for Royal Challengers Bengaluru back in the 2013 season. He subsequently went on to represent Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Lucknow Super Giants in the T20 league before being purchased by Delhi Capitals at the IPL 2025 mega auction held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The elegant right-handed batter has the experience of 132 matches in the T20 competition in which he has scored 4,683 runs at an average of 45.46 and a strike rate of 134.60, with four hundreds and 37 half-centuries. He is at No. 12 on the list of leading run-getters in the Indian Premier League.

Rahul has scored 600-plus runs in an IPL season on four occasions. His best tally of 670 runs was registered in the 2020 edition. The Karnataka cricketer also scored 659 runs in 2018, 626 runs in 2021 and 612 runs in 2022. The right-handed batter finished with 593 runs in IPL 2019 and scored 520 runs last year.