Indian cricketer KL Rahul and Lucknow Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka’s heated on-field exchange during the 2024 IPL grabbed widespread attention.
Now, looking back at the controversy, Rahul’s father-in-law and actor Suniel Shetty has revealed that KL Rahul never discussed the matter with the family.
Suniel Shetty on KL Rahul and Sanjiv Goenka incident
Suniel looked back at the viral incident during a conversation with Lehren Retro. He revealed that Rahul is aware of the love he got after the incident.
Suniel said, “People feel that way about him, and he is aware of that; he has got all the love and sympathy. He never said a word till date. He has never talked about it, and we never discussed that at home. Maybe, Sanjeev ji was going through something in his life at that period, and that’s how we saw it.”
That being said, Suniel shared that the incident did hurt KL Rahul, who is married to his daughter Athiya Shetty.
“Of course, it hurt him, because the world is seeing. The world wanted to take decisions, and the world was passing statements. But, those are not our statements. That shows the love for Rahul, for the family, but I don’t think we went into that also,” he added.
While Suniel is proud of Rahul’s achievements, he doesn’t watch the cricket match when his son-in-law is playing on the ground.
While Suniel takes pride in his achievements, he admits he avoids watching cricket matches when his son-in-law is on the field. Suniel shared that the “biggest high” for him is Rahul representing the country itself, He said he only watches the highlights.
KL Rahul and Sanjiv Goenka’s viral interaction
Back in 2024, Goenka’s animated chat with Rahul after an IPL match grabbed eyeballs. It was the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) match where Rahul’s side suffered a massive thrashing courtesy of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma’s onslaught. After the clash, Goenka, LSG team owner, was seen having an animated chat with skipper Rahul on the ground. It didn’t look pleasant, as Goenka looked miffed with the team’s performance.
It sparked conversation on social media ,with many suggesting he should have waited to get to the dressing room or a meeting room to have that conversation instead of doing it in a public place. Rahul was not retained by LSG ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction despite finishing as their highest run-scorer in 2024. He moved to Delhi Capitals the following season.