Star India batter KL Rahul triggered a huge wave of speculations on social media through his recent Instagram post. “I have an announcement to make, stay tuned…”, Rahul wrote on Instagram. Reacting to this, a few accounts on social media speculated that Rahul might retire from international cricket, having lost his place in India’s T20 team. However, Rahul seemed have quashed all the rumours with his latest Instagram post. In truth, Rahul and his wife Athiya Shetty had organised an auction “to enrich the lives of many special children”.
From jerseys to cricket bats of his present and former teammates, Rahul and Athiya raised Rs 1.93 crores from the auction.
Virat Kohli’s jersey was the most expensive buy at the auction, sold for Rs 40 lakh. In fact, the second most expensive buy, recorded at Rs 28 lakh, was also a pair of Kohli’s gloves.
Three bats, one each of current and former India captains Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and Rahul Dravid helped raise Rs 24 lakh, Rs 13 lakh and Rs 11 lakh, respectively.
The most expensive buy at the KL Rahul-Athiya conducted auction:
Virat Kohli’s jersey – 40 Lakhs.
Virat Kohli’s gloves – 28 Lakhs.
Rohit Sharma’s bat – 24 Lakhs.
MS Dhoni’s bat – 13 Lakhs.
Rahul Dravid’s bat – 11 Lakhs. pic.twitter.com/ZzPxO2yh5o— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 23, 2024
Meanwhile, Rahul wasn't a part of India's squad at the T20 World Cup 2024. After the Rohit Sharma-led Indian side lifted the trophy by beating South Africa in the final, veterans like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja announced their retirement. Fans feared that Rahul too might follow the suit.
The wicket-keeper batter's future as the captain of his Indian Premier League side Lucknow Super has also been subjected to intense chatter among fans and experts. Many feel that the franchise might decide to offload Rahul and look for a new captaincy face in the forthcoming mega auction. Is Rahul about to make an announcement on his IPL future?
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Rahul will next be seen in action in the Duleep Trophy, having been picked in the India 'A' Squad. He will be playing under Shubman Gill’s leadership, alongside Mayank Agarwal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, and Avesh Khan.
The wicket-batter has tough competition from Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel for a spot in the Indian team. While Pant is likely to be given the wicket-keeper’s role, Rahul could still make the cut in the playing XI as a non-keeper.