'RCB captain KL Rahul': Fans cheer for LSG's KL Rahul during Duleep Trophy match at Bengaluru's Chidambaram Stadium

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Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) fans want KL Rahul as the new captain of their team, and they made it clear with their loud chants for the star cricketer in the ongoing Duleep Trophy match between India A and India B at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Bengaluru.

In a video which has gone viral, fans can be seen loudly chanting KL Rahul's name alone first, before one of them starts the chant of 'RCB captain, KL Rahul'.

Notably, numerous reports have emerged regarding Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain KL Rahul's IPL future. There were murmurs that the wicketkeeper-batter would make a comeback to RCB and lead the team in IPL 2025. The reports suggested that RCB are looking for a young captain after failing to win the trophy under 40-year-old Faf du Plessis.

Recently, pictures of KL Rahul with LSG owner Sanjeev Goenka also went viral on social media. Fresh reports claimed that he met Goenka in Kolkata and expressed his wish to stay at the franchise.

Later when Sanjeev Goenka was asked about the meeting, he called KL Rahul 'family' but refrained from confirming if he would be retained as a captain or a player in general.

"Look, I've been meeting KL regularly over the last three years. I'm a little surprised this meeting got so much attention. As I've said, we have not taken any call till the retention rules are out," Goenka told reporters while unveiling Zaheer Khan as their team mentor in August end.

"KL has been an integral and important part of the LSG family since inception. He's played a very important role. He's like family and will be family."

"We have all of September, October and November to decide that. Let the policies be out. We have not even thought about the team going forward, whether retention will be three-four-five or six, we have no clue. Let us see, there is enough time, so bit by bit. Whatever decisions we take today will impact us for the medium term future, so it has to be very well thought out and considered.

"There is enough time for it so it's too early. Let the BCCI announce the policy first, then there will be discussions," Goenka added.

KL Rahul has been with LSG since their inception in 2022. LSG qualified for the playoffs in their first two seasons, and missed a berth a whisker last season.

KL Rahul was LSG's highest run-scorer in IPL 2024, and one of the seven players to score over 500 runs in the season. However, his T20 credentials have taken a hit because of his slow starts in the format. He also hasn't won the coveted trophy despite even captaining Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the past. The Karnataka batter was not included in India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad.