IPL 2022 mega auction: KL Rahul finally opens up after parting ways with Punjab Kings

India batter KL Rahul on Wednesday (December 1) finally broke silence over his decision to leave Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Punjab Kings (PBKS) and thanked the PBKS for the support and 'love'. Rahul decided to end his association with PBKS just days ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction.

Punjab Kings retained Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh for IPL 2022 after Rahul made it clear to the team management that he wants to go back into the auction pool. Taking to his Twitter, Rahul wrote, "It was a good ride, thank you for the love see you on the other side @PunjabKingsIPL."

Earlier, Anil Kumble, the Director of Cricket Operations (Punjab Kings) has said that PBKS management was interested in retaining Rahul for IPL 2022 but the star batter decided to go back into the auction pool.

"KL has been the fulcrum for us in the last four years, and the last two years in the time that I have been with Punjab, he has been the captain. Obviously, we wanted to retain him and continue with him to be the focus for Punjab. But he decided that he wanted to go back to auction," Kumble had said in a video posted on iplt20.com.

"And the rules of the IPL before a big auction is that the player decides whether he wants to be retained or wants to go back. So we respect that, hopefully, he will be a part of that auction and let us see what happens," he added.

Meanwhile, the eight existing IPL franchises on Tuesday revealed the list of their retained players ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction.