KL Rahul sold to Delhi Capitals at IPL 2025 auction, salary drops by ₹3 crore

KL Rahul was sold to the Delhi Capitals (DC) for ₹14 crore at the IPL 2025 auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday, November 24. The Capitals acquired him at a steal after a bidding war between the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). His base price was ₹2 crore.

This is Rahul's fifth IPL franchise after brief stints with RCB, the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

Notably, Rahul’s IPL salary dropped by ₹3 crore. The wicketkeeper was purchased by the Super Giants for ₹17 crore for their inaugural season in 2022. He was relieved by LSG after he failed to win a title in his captaincy in their first three seasons.

As a captain, KL Rahul has 31 wins in 61 matches. With the bat, he has amassed 4683 runs in 132 games, including four tons and 37 half-centuries. In 2024, he amassed 520 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 136.13, including four half-centuries.

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“I wanted to start afresh” – KL Rahul on entering IPL 2025 auction

KL Rahul said that he wanted to start afresh after leaving the Super Giants ahead of IPL 2025 auction. He told Star Sports (via ESPNcricinfo):

"No, I mean, I think the decision was made already and I don't know what the comments are, but they must have come after the announcement.”

"I just felt like I wanted to start fresh, I wanted to explore my options and I wanted to go and play where I could find some freedom and the team atmosphere would be something much more balanced,” he added.

The reaction came after LSG owner Sanjay Goenka said that they needed players with a winning mindset during the IPL 2025 retentions. He said (via Hindustan Times):

"It was a simple mindset to go in with players who have a mindset to win, who put the team first before their personal goals and personal aspirations and we wanted to retain as much as of core we could.”

As far as the IPL 2025 auction is concerned, DC also bought Mitchell Starc for ₹11.75 crore. They had retained five players at the IPL 2025 retentions:

DC retained players:

Axar Patel (₹16.50 crore), Kuldeep Yadav ( ₹13.25 crore), Tristan Stubbs ( ₹10 crore), and Avishek Porel ( ₹4 crore).