Why did Rishabh Pant leave Delhi Capitals? Was there a rift between the flamboyant cricketer and the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise? No one knows for sure. But days ahead of the IPL mega auction, the India wicketkeeper dropped a bombshell. (More Cricket News)
Reacting to a comment made by legendary Sunil Gavaskar on the IPL "auction dynamics" and "talk between the player and the franchise about the fees", Pant said his split with Delhi Capitals was not about money.
DC roped in Pant for INR 1.9 crore during the IPL 2016 auction and subsequently promoted him to the captaincy. But to the surprise of many, the 27-year-old was not retained by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.
Gavaskar, 75, alluded that monetary factors could be in play. "Auction dynamics are completely different... Sometimes when the player is to be retained, there is talk between the player and the franchise about the fees that are expected."
Delhi Capitals retained Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, and Abhishek Porel. With INR 73 crore and two Right-To-Match cards in the bag, they can go for a star player, or even a captain.
"You can see some of the players who have been retained by their franchise have gone for more than what their deduction fee would have been," the former India captain added.
"Maybe there was some disagreement there but my feeling is that Delhi would definitely want Pant back, because they need a captain as well. If Rishabh Pant is not in their squad, they would have to look for that as well. Delhi will definitely go for Rishabh Pant."
Replying to the video post on X, Pant wrote: "My retention wasn’t about the money for sure that I can say."
Rishabh Pant returned to action earlier this year after recuperating from a near-fatal car accident. He made 111 appearances for Delhi Capitals and scored more than 3200 runs with a century and 18 half-centuries.
The IPL 2025 mega auction, a two-day affair, will take place at the Abady Al-Johar Arena in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on November 24 and 25. Pant is among the 12 marquee players with a base price of INR 2 crore, and the former DC captain Pant is expected to spark a bidding war at the auction.
