DC co-owner Parth Jindal takes a subtle swipe at LSG's Sanjiv Goenka after securing KL Rahul for INR 14 crore in IPL auction

Parth Jindal, co-owner of the Delhi Capitals, warmly embraced and expressed his admiration for KL Rahul, the team's newest acquisition. Jindal promised to treat the seasoned Indian batsman with utmost care and respect. Rahul's departure from his previous team, the Lucknow Super Giants, was met with controversy. The aftermath of a recent IPL match revealed tension as LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka publicly vented his frustration towards Rahul, hinting at a strained relationship. In an attempt to reconcile, the two even had a dinner meeting shortly after the incident, but their differences persisted. Eventually, when the franchise decided not to retain Rahul, it became evident that they had chosen to part ways.

The matter did not end there. All throughout, Goenka took indirect digs at Rahul. Instances such as saying, 'We need players who think about the team and not personal milestones,' were shots fired below the belt. However, the tables seem to have turned with Rahul's new owner, Parth Jindal, ensuring that his message is heard loud and clearly by his KL's previous franchise.

"I believe that KL is a quality player, and getting him at that price opened up the budget for us to strengthen other areas. I know KL personally for a long time and he is a good friend of mine. He thrives with love and respect, and I am going to give him the love and respect he deserves. I hope he thrives in our atmosphere and does it for Delhi, wins an IPL," Jindal told RevSportz.

Rahul was the fifth costliest Indian purchase at the IPL 2025 mega auction behind record-breaker Rishabh Pant ( ₹27 crore), Shreyas Iyer ( ₹26.75 crore), Venkatesh Iyer ( ₹23 crore), Arshdeep Singh ( ₹18 crore) and Yuzvendra Chahal ( ₹18 crore). One of the most sought-after players, Rahul was tipped heavily to go back to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, but despite RCB's best efforts – they bid relentlessly for KL before pulling out at ₹11 crore mark – DC ended up having the last laugh, also outbidding Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings in the process, to secure his services at ₹14 crore. With 4683 runs, Rahul is a bit of an IPL giant and Jindal recognises it as he explained the decision to go after him.

"KL is an exceptional cricketer. His consistency in every IPL season has been phenomenal. Kotla is a ground which we thought will suit KL's batting and if there are two grounds where probably KL wants to go as his home ground, they would be RCB or DC. Both Chinnaswamy or Kotla will suit his game in terms of them being small grounds. There has been a lot of chatter about KL on strike-rate and all those things," he added.

"I believe a class player is always a class player. When we were discussing our auction strategy, the first lot was Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer. Obviously, we thought that if we can get one of those players, one of them being the Indian marquee batter, then we will not have the budget for KL. But we lost both and went to the auction knowing that we might lose both because Punjab, LSG or RCB had more money than us. Then, who is the next-best batter? KL Rahul was right up there."