Rishabh Pant came back after a 15-month hiatus and was still able to outscore all of his Delhi Capitals (DC) teammates. 446 runs at 40.54 while striking 155.40—that’s how good the wicketkeeper was in IPL 2024 despite being visibly rusty. But Pant isn’t just DC’s best batter, but also their captain. He’s donned the leadership cap since 2021 and took the franchise to the playoffs in his first year as captain.
Rs 18 crore, that’s enough for you
According to Cricbuzz, Pant knows his value, and therefore, despite being DC’s top retention pick (at least Rs 18 crore), he wasn’t satisfied with the price they were willing to pay. Pant met with DC’s co-owners Parth Jindal (JSW Group) and Kiran Kumar Grandhi (GMR Group) earlier in the month and expressed dissatisfaction over the amount he’d supposedly receive as one of the retained players for IPL 2025.
Unlike Test cricket, where he has been India’s best player since 2020, Pant’s white-ball performance, especially in international cricket, hasn’t been up to the mark. DC owners think along the same lines, and although they accept Pant as the right man to lead them, they might not shell out more money.
No ill will despite hasty ‘post’
Before Pant met DC owners, he also tested the waters by making an impromptu social media post late at night. “If I go to the auction, will I be sold or not, and for how much?” he’d written on October 12. DC owners were taken by surprise but weren’t hurt by it and have brushed it aside as a rush of blood.
Say in head coach & team selection
Pant apparently wanted a bigger say when it came to the appointment of management (coaches) and selection of the team. He’d suggested other high-profile names to take over from head coach Ricky Ponting and Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly. Pant’s suggestion wasn’t taken into account as GMR Group, who’ll run the men’s Delhi Capitals for the next two years, had already finalised Hemang Badani and Venugopal Rao. Moreover, GMR have consciously decided they don’t need big names like one of the former Indian players Pant had suggested to become either head coach or mentor. So, they chose to go ahead with Badani and Rao.
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