KL Rahul not to sell in Maharaja Trophy auction; here’s why

India’s Test vice-captain KL Rahul went unsold in the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 2026 auction on Friday despite being one of the biggest names available.Rahul, who scored 593 runs in 14 matches for Delhi Capitals during IPL 2026, was the second player to come in the auction. However, none of the six franchises bid for him in the opening round as his availability for the tournament remains uncertain. The 33-year-old entered the auction with a base price of Rs 2 crore.Rahul is currently part of the Indian squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan in New Chandigarh and has been named vice-captain. He is also expected to be involved in the upcoming international assignments in India, including the Afghanistan ODI series and England tour.With a busy international schedule for the next three months, franchises were hesitant to invest in a player whose participation in the tournament could not be guaranteed.Rahul was among the most talked about names ahead of the auction, but his unsold status had more to do with his availability than his form. After completing a two-month IPL campaign with Delhi Capitals, he is concentrating on national team duties and managing his workload across his many international commitments.Several Karnataka players attracted attention in the auction, including Devdutt Padikkal, Mayank Agarwal, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Shreyas Gopal, Karun Nair and Manish Pandey. The team limit is a minimum of 16 players and a maximum of 18 acquired through the auction, along with two players from the mandatory catchment area players.The fifth edition of Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 will be played from June 12 to July 12 in Mysuru, Hubballi and Bengaluru.