Soon after India’s triumph in the 2024 T20 World Cup in June, several reports suggested that Delhi Capitals were releasing captain Rishabh Pant.
It became a reality when the Indian Premier League (IPL) retentions for 2025 were announced, with Delhi going with Axar Patel, Tristan Stubbs, Abhishek Porel and Kuldeep Yadav.
Pant had been a DC loyalist since his IPL debut in 2016, featuring in 111 matches and scoring 3,284 runs in eight seasons. The franchise had retained the wicketkeeper-batsman for the 2023 season, who sat out due to a near-fatal accident. It was surprising to let their captain of three seasons go after just a mid-table finish.
He was eventually bought by Lucknow Super Giants, owned by the Goenka group, for a price of INR 27 crore, making him the most expensive player in IPL history.
For Pant, however, there was nervousness about which franchise would buy him in the auction and he spoke about it during the LSG captaincy announcement.
“I was confused about whether I should watch or not. I was watching it with Rohit bhai. I mentally told myself that I will not look after INR 15 crores. It was my first experience at an IPL auction in a long time, so I hadn’t experienced much. I was excited and nervous and finally LSG won the bid,” Pant revealed on Star Sports.
Hoping it wasn’t the kings of Punjab: Rishabh pant
He also joked that he might go to Punjab Kings as they had the highest purse of INR 110 crore in the auction.
“Only one thing made me tense from within: the Punjab Kings. When Shreyas went to PBKS, it was clear that I was going to LSG. There may be possibilities and with the auction you never know. I had my fingers crossed as to where I will go,” Pant said.
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LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka said the team planned its auction to acquire Pant for next season.
“The amount of strategies that were made revolved around Rishabh, it was done keeping him in mind,” Goenka added while confirming Pant as the next skipper of LSG.
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