Rishabh Pant might be the hottest commodity at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. Such is the utility of the wicketkeeper batter that even at a fake auction, Pant went over Rs 20 crore. Ravichandran Ashwin, his India teammate, decided to mock the auction before the real one in Jeddah on November 24-25. Jos Buttler and KL Rahul earned Rs 16 and 18 crore, respectively, but it was Pant who broke the bank, as many experts have asserted ever since the news came out that the Delhi Capitals won’t retain him.
Pant most expensive pick at Ashwin’s ‘mock’ IPL 2025 auction
Pant has a base price of Rs 2 crore and is placed in the 1st marquee players list. Ashwin’s auction rules allowed franchises to start the bidding process at Rs 5 and 10 crore if they wished to do so. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) raised the Rs 10 crore paddle in a jiffy and the bidding war began.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), and Punjab Kings (PBKS) all joined the party. CSK and RCB were the first ones to bowl out as LSG and PBKS continued to place bids until Rs 20 crore. Then finally, Punjab made one last bid of Rs 20.50 crore, and Lucknow pulled out after that.
Rs 20.5 crore, less for Rishabh Pant?
Yuvraj Singh remains to hold the record for the most expensive Indian player bought at an IPL auction. He was paid Rs 16 crore by the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2016. Given the big names present this year, that record could be toppled at least a couple of times. But, Pant, a southpaw like Yuvraj could be the one to finally do it.
Pant has scored less than 300 runs in an IPL season just once, which happened in his debut season (2016). His average hasn’t been lower than 30 since 2018 and only twice has his strike rate been lower than 130 (2020 and 2021). After MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik, he’s got the most runs as a wicketkeeper, and as far as dismissals are concerned, he’s behind just three (Wriddhiman Saha joins Dhoni and Karthik).
At 27, and despite missing a full season, he’s got 43 as captain under his belt. Pant’s DC’s second most successful captain by win percentage and number of matches won and been their only shining light. One can’t forget that he took DC to the Playoffs in his first season as captain. In 2024, he was their leading run-scorer despite not playing a match in over 15 months.
Whoever picks Pant can expect him to represent their IPL franchise for the next decade. He’s already overtaken Dhoni’s legacy in Test cricket, and Thala’s IPL legacy might not last much longer either. You get all of this for Rs 20.50? You take it.
Rishabh Pant’s IPL/DC stats
| Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s | Highest Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 111 | 3284 | 35.31 | 148.93 | 1 | 18 | 128 |
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