Reports have surfaced claiming that KL Rahul and Rashid Khan have been approached by a franchise before the PBKS and SRH retention lists have been released.
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On Tuesday, November 30, all eight Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises will reveal the list of players they have decided to keep before the mega IPL auction ahead of the next season. In the midst of all of this, multiple reports have surfaced claiming that Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain KL Rahul and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) spinner Rashid Khan have been approached by a franchise to join them even before the PBKS and SRH retention lists have been released.
According to Inside Sport, PBKS and SRH have complained to the BCCI about the RPSG Group-backed Lucknow franchise ‘pursuing and poaching’ KL Rahul and Rashid Khan away from their respective franchises. According to the report, the Indian board is now investigating the complaints and will take appropriate action if this is found to be true.
“We haven’t received any letter but we have received a verbal complaint from two franchises about players poaching by the Lucknow team,” a BCCI official reportedly told Inside Sport. “We are looking into it, and we will take appropriate action if it proves to be true,” he added.
He also stated that approaching players in this manner is not fair to the existing teams.
“We don’t want to disturb the balance. You cannot avoid such things when there is fierce competition. But it’s not fair to the existing teams when they are trying to balance everything,” the BCCI official said.
According to reports, the RPSG-backed new Lucknow franchise has offered KL Rahul more than Rs 20 crore to leave Punjab Kings. Rashid Khan of Sunrisers Hyderabad has also been offered Rs 16 crore. While SRH wants to keep Rashid, they do not want to pay more than Rs 12 crore.
This is not, however, the first time a player has been approached or a franchise has been accused of poaching. In 2010, Ravindra Jadeja was banned for a year and the Mumbai Indians were chastised after the all-rounder failed to renew his contract with the Rajasthan Royals and attempted to negotiate a new contract with the Mumbai Indians.
The IPL franchises are all set to announce the retention of some key players for the 2022 edition of the tournament. The announcements will be made official tonight. There are some surprises in store but some announcements are straightforward. There is a bit of suspense over who Sunrisers Hyderabad is going to retain ahead of the mega-auction. While other teams like Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, and Kolkata Knight Riders are all but certain, there is suspense over some other teams.
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