After the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) trade talks with the Gujarat Titans (GT) for Washington Sundar ended in disappointment, another trade discussion prior to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction hasn’t panned out.
KL Rahul trade talks
Rumours were that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were keen to make KL Rahul a knight, but their conversation with the Delhi Capitals (DC) didn’t go as expected.
The Capitals had bought Rahul for INR 14 crore in 2025, an amount which was considered low since Shreyas Iyer and then Rishabh Pant broke the record of the costliest auction buy in IPL history.
But for their betterment, DC were ready to trade Rahul. KKR, who are in desperate need of a captain and wicketkeeper batter, were ready to pounce on the opportunity. But KKR and DC didn’t see eye to eye.
DC’s KL Rahul trade demands for KKR
According to the Times of India, DC put forth 3 potential player trade options, and KKR rejected all of them.
- Direct swap with Sunil Narine
- Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Rinku Singh
- Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Harshit Rana
The first was a direct swap between Sunil Narine and Rahul. But KKR didn’t want to trade their greatest-ever player, who still wins them matches with both bat and ball. The second option was Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Rinku Singh. KKR’s newly appointed head coach, Abhishek Nayar, has a special bond with Angkrish and has trained him personally. He backs him immensely and doesn’t want to let him go.
The last option was for Rinku and Harshit Rana. KKR might have let one of them go, but can’t afford to trade both. One also has to remember that both made their debut with them and may retire from the IPL years later while still representing them. Therefore, the Rahul trade between DC and KKR wasn’t possible.
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