New Delhi: Rishabh Pant shocked everyone by leaving Delhi Capitals (DC) before the IPL 2025 mega-auction. As a homegrown talent, he was expected to stay with the franchise forever. However, he decided to leave and go into the auction pool. Even though Pant clarified that his decision wasn’t financially motivated, DC’s new head coach has made a shocking revelation about the move.
In a conversation with Subramaniam Badrinath on his YouTube channel, Hemang Badani revealed that Rishabh Pant was not interested in being retained by Delhi Capitals. According to Badani, Pant wanted to enter the auction pool to test his market value.
“I think it’s the other way around. He wanted not to be retained. He said he wanted to go the auction and test the market. If you want to retain a player, both parties (the team and the player) have to agree on certain things. We tried talking to him, the management tried talking to him. There were a lot of phone calls and messages exchanged,” Hemang revealed.
“Yes (Delhi Capitals were interested in retaining him). He said he wanted to go to the auction and test the mark. He said he had a feeling that there were chances he would get more money than the highest cap for retained player, which is Rs 18 crore. And, at the end of the day, he felt he was worth more. And the market said the same thing. He got Rs 27 crore. Good for him. He is a very good player. We will obviously miss him. But, life goes on.”
Rishabh Pant became the costliest pick in the history of the IPL 2025 mega-auction. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) first bagged him for Rs 20.75 crore, but Delhi Capitals (DC) used their Right to Match (RTM) card to retain him. LSG, however, increased the bid to Rs 27 crore, which DC did not match, and Pant went to LSG.
Rishabh Pant started his IPL career with the Delhi Capitals (DC) and played for the franchise in 2016 until his last appearance in 2024. He became the full-time captain in 2021, and under his stewardship, the team has won several seasons, but under his captaincy, it has not won an IPL title yet.
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