NEW DELHI: After being released by the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) would target wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul in the upcoming IPL 2025 mega auction.

LSG snubbed their captain Rahul and retained Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan and Ayush Badoni in the squad. On the other hand, RCB and CSK retained three (Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Yash Dayal) and five players (Ruturaj Gaikwad, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni), respectively. Both southern franchises will head into the auction with a bank of Rs 83 crore (RCB) and Rs 55 crore (CSK) to fill 22 and 20 spots, respectively.

“I do believe that the two south franchises, Bengaluru as well as Chennai, will go for KL Rahul. Maybe even Hyderabad will go, but Bangalore is of course KL Rahul’s hometown. So clearly I think he will be enthused, he will be encouraged, he will want to play in front of his home crowd. So Bengaluru might go for KL Rahul, ” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, speaking on the auction, discussed the potential future of David Warner, a global superstar known for his powerful hitting. He said, “It’s been a few years since David Warner’s performances have been great. But he is still a great player. When Devon Conway was released in CSK, I’m sure they will buy him back. They are quite influenced by Rachid Ravindra as well. I don’t think they will be interested in bringing David Warner into their plans. I don’t think David Warner can fit in CSK.”

Manjrekar also analysed why Punjab Kings might have released Arshdeep Singh and how they could still retain him. He said, “I believe that they have released a lot of players so that they get some freedom. And the core of the team and the combination of the team should change completely. But they will definitely be interested in Arshdeep Singh. I believe there is a slight difference in today’s Arshdeep Singh and 5 years ago’s Arshdeep Singh. But he can still give you a wicket with a new ball. And you can still expect from him in the slog overs as well. So although Punjab Kings have released him, they will definitely be after Arshdeep in the mega auctions.”

Manjrekar further addressed Mohammed Shami’s recent injury issues and their impact on the auction.

“There will definitely be interest from teams, but given Shami’s injury history—and this recent one took a significant amount of time to recover—there’s always a concern about a potential breakdown during the season. If a franchise invests heavily and then loses him mid-season, their options become limited. This concern might lead to a drop in his price tag, ” he said.