 "WATCH: KL Rahul goes unsold in this domestic T20 league despite 593 runs in IPL 2026, video gets viral; Know reason behind it")
Despite a commanding IPL 2026 campaign, India wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul went unsold at the Maharaja T20 Trophy auction held on June 5. The tournament, formerly known as the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20, is set to get underway from June 20, and with no retention policy in place this season, all players went under the hammer afresh. Rahul was among the most anticipated names heading into the auction, yet not a single one of the six participating franchises placed a bid on him.
Reason Revealed
The reason behind his unsold status had nothing to do with form and everything to do with availability. Following a two-month IPL 2026 campaign with Delhi Capitals, Rahul is currently preparing for the one-off Test match against Afghanistan, in which he has been named vice-captain. The Afghanistan ODI series follows immediately after, and with India’s tour of England lined up the month after that, Rahul is looking to manage his workload carefully across three consecutive months of international cricket. His uncertain availability for the Maharaja T20 Trophy window meant franchises chose not to invest in him.
KL Rahul has gone unsold in some random Maharaja T20 League.
Remember, in 2022 he turned down the chance to captain CSK and chose the shiny new project at LSG instead.
Rahul is struggling to find buyers.
Cricket has a funny way of settling scores. pic.twitter.com/MJlT0w8nX9
— Brutal Truth (@sarkarstix) June 5, 2026
Rahul’s IPL 2026 heroics
Interestingly, both Rahul and Prasidh Krishna had their names highlighted in the auction to indicate their likely unavailability for the season. However, while Rahul went unsold, Mysore Warriors moved quickly to secure Prasidh Krishna for just Rs 2.6 lakh. Rahul’s IPL 2026 numbers made his auction outcome all the more surprising on paper. Across 14 matches for Delhi Capitals, he scored 593 runs at an average exceeding 45 and at a strike rate of approximately 175, a figure that has long been a topic of debate around his T20 game but which he emphatically addressed this season. The standout moment of his IPL campaign was a stunning innings of 152, which stands as the highest score ever recorded by an Indian batter in T20 cricket.
With the IPL now behind him, Rahul’s complete focus has shifted to the Afghanistan series and the international assignments that follow.
India vs Afghanistan One-Off Test Match Squads
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill (C), Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel, Rishabh Pant (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Devdutt Padikkal, Manav Suthar
Afghanistan: Abdul Malik, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah, Azmatullah Omarzai, Afsar Zazai (WK), Sharafuddin Ashraf, Ziaur Rahman Sharifi, Qais Ahmad, Bilal Sami, Mohammad Saleem Safi, Nangeyalia Kharote, Rahmanullah, Sediqullah Atal, Ikram Alikhil
