‘Hurt’ KL Rahul never discussed Sanjiv Goenka incident with family; father-in-law Suniel Shetty says LSG owner ‘was going through something in life’ | Bollywood News
3 min readNew DelhiFeb 6, 2026 01:30 PM Indian cricketer KL Rahul and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka’s heated on-field discussion during the 2024 IPL grabbed many eyeballs. The then-captain got visibly involved in a public argument with Goenka, after a heavy loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad. In a recent interview, Rahul’s father-in-law, actor Suniel Shetty opened up about the feud. He also expressed feeling proud of the cricketer for representing the country.
During a conversation with Lehren Retro, he admitted that KL Rahul is aware of the love he got after the incident and 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, 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.”
The veteran actor further added, “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.”
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While Suniel is proud of his achievements, he doesn’t watch the cricket match when his son-in-law is playing on the ground. “The biggest high for me is Rahul representing the country itself. If he is captain, vice captain, or leading from the front, responsible for India’s victory, that’s a big high for us automatically. But, for all of us, it’s about him representing the country and his personality. I watch all the matches but I never watch when Rahul is playing,” he revealed.
He continued, “I only watch the highlights then. Yesterday also, Ahan was watching, I didn’t go inside. I don’t know if it’s superstition or I get anxious, it’s maybe because of that. I don’t see Rahul playing on the field, absolutely don’t. I watch him later in highlights, for sure.”
KL Rahul is happily married to Suniel Shetty’s daughter Athiya Shetty. After tying the knot in January 2023, the couple welcomed their first child – daughter Evaarah, in March 2025.Story continues below this ad
KL Rahul and Sanjiv Goenka’s viral fight
Rahul captained LSG from 2022 to 2024, a tenure that often placed him at the centre of intense scrutiny. In the 2024 IPL, after a 10-wicket loss to SRH, where LSG lost brutally, cameras captured a visibly angry Goenka expressing his disappointment to Rahul on the field. After the incident, the cricket said that it was not the ‘nicest’ thing to be a part of and it impacted the whole team.
After widespread criticism of the moment on social media, Rahul wasn’t retained LSG for the 2025 season, and he was picked up Delhi Capitals instead. Later on, in April 2025, after winning a match with Delhi Capitals against his former team, KL Rahul was seen avoiding a handshake with Sanjiv Goenka, who wanted to congratulate him on the win.
