“No, I mean, I think the decision has already been made and I don’t know what the comments are, but they must have come after the announcement,” said Rahul. sports star in an interview aired on November 12th. “I felt like I wanted to start from scratch, I wanted to explore my options and I wanted to go play where I could find a little freedom and the team atmosphere was much more balanced.
“The pressure is already there in the IPL, it is very high. You see teams like Gujarat [Titans] and CSK [Chennai Super Kings] and all these teams, and you see when they win or lose, they look very balanced and the locker room is very calm. This is something very important for me as a player. I feel like if that happens, every player will have the best chance to perform.
“We tried that at LSG with Andy Flower [head coach] and GG [Gautam Gambhir, mentor] first and then last year with [new head coach, Justin] Langer, we try to create that in the locker room. I think it was a brilliant atmosphere in the dressing room. I guess sometimes you just need to move away and find something good for yourself.”
Rahul led LSG to the playoffs in his first two seasons, in 2022 and 2023. Asked to recall IPL 2024, Rahul suggested that external pressure may have contributed to the drop in results. After starting with a loss to the Rajasthan Royals, they won three matches in a row before stuttering midway through the season. And then, they went into a downward spiral, even as Rahul topped their charts with 520 runs and a strike rate of 136.12.
Despite these runs, there has been considerable speculation about Rahul’s future with the franchise since footage emerged of a lively conversation between him and Goenka following LSG’s defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad at the end of the league stage.
“There are always ups and downs,” he said. “You need to be able to control your nerves and maintain and you need to be able to keep putting in good performance after good performance. All the traveling, all the drama out there, the pressure – it’s all there every year. But somehow this season it felt like there was so much more and somehow I think it affected the team and we weren’t able to perform when it really mattered.
Looking ahead, Rahul said the IPL captaincy was not the most important thing for him at this stage, but playing in a “good environment” was. “I would never ask this of anyone,” said Rahul when asked how important the IPL captaincy is to him. “If you think my leadership skills are good enough, and you find something good in the way I play cricket and the way I conduct myself, the way I deal with the team that I have captained for the last four to five years, and If you think it’s worth it, of course I’ll be happy to do it.
“But it’s not something that means all or nothing to me. I just want to be part of a team that has a good environment. You feel loved and cared for and respected in that environment and everyone in this franchise has one goal. Win the idea. So it’s a perfect fit.”
Even as talk on social media about a possible reunion with his hometown team Royal Challengers Bengaluru gained momentum, Rahul was pragmatic about the possibility of playing anywhere. But it’s no secret which team he has a soft corner for. “I enjoyed playing for RCB more. It’s also my home,” he said. “You spend a lot of time at home, and I know Chinnaswamy [Stadium] very good. I grew up playing on that ground. So yes, I really enjoyed my time at RCB.”
Would he love to return to RCB?
“Yes, of course, like I said, it’s a kind of home and people there know me as a local Kannada boy, and it would be nice to go back there and have an opportunity again. But yes, it’s an auction year, so you can go anywhere.”
Shashank Kishore is senior deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo
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