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DC vs LSG: KL Rahul misses the IPL 2025 campaign opener
Fans will need to wait before they get to see KL Rahul playing for Delhi Capitals in the IPL. The captain of LSG since their inaugural season in the league, Rahul's time with the Super Giants concluded in IPL 2024 after a dramatic showdown. Released from the Lucknow camp ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, Delhi Capitals picked the former skipper for 14 crores. Meanwhile, the Delhi Capitals captain until IPL 2024, Rishabh Pant, bagged a 27-crore deal with Lucknow Super Giants as a swap took place in the auction. Now, with IPL 2025 launched into action, the DC vs LSG campaign opener would have brought this swap into action. However, the scenario will not shape up as soon as the campaign opener in Vishakapatnam, as KL Rahul has been marked unavailable for the fixture.
Our Starting XI tigers for #DCvLSG 🐅 pic.twitter.com/DfoWCRdGP9
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) March 24, 2025
As IPL 2025 neared, discussions arose around his availability for the campaign opener on March 24. Fortunately, Rahul's unavailability has nothing to do with any injury scare. Instead, the wicketkeeper-batter has taken paternity leave for the fixture. Axar Patel, who succeeded Rishabh Pant as the new Delhi Capitals captain, earlier confirmed that KL Rahul had joined the DC camp. However, the skipper didn't update whether Rahul was being counted in the Playing XI. Moments before the toss in the DC vs LSG game, it was confirmed that KL Rahul would miss the fixture. Moreover, it has been reported that the cricketer has flown back to Mumbai to be with his wife, Athiya Shetty, as they await the birth of their child.
🚨 NO KL RAHUL TONIGHT. 🚨
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 24, 2025
- KL Rahul will miss the first match of Delhi Capitals as he's expecting the birth of his first child. (Cricbuzz). pic.twitter.com/FiRdUeMZWR
Previously, it was reported that KL Rahul would bat in the middle order for Delhi Capitals. After setting aside any chances of a leadership role in DC, Rahul was slotted in the middle order to overcome the void left by the withdrawal of Harry Brook. Meanwhile, Faf du Plessis, announced as the DC vice-captain, emerged as the opening prospect along with Australian young gun Jake Fraser-McGurk. The DC vs LSG IPL 2025 match kicked off with Axar Patel winning the toss and opting to bowl first against the Rishabh Pant-led LSG.
Delhi Capitals Playing XI: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel (w), Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel (c), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar.
Lucknow Super Giants Playing XI: Rishabh Pant, Mitchell Marsh, Ayush Badoni, Nicholas Pooran, David Miller, Aiden Markram, Digvesh Singh, Prince Yadav, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi.
