Rishabh Pant has hinted towards a potential rift with Delhi Capitals’ (DC) management before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. It was reported that Pant asked for such a huge amount as his retention price that DC decided they’d move ahead with him as their captain. But the wicketkeeper batter has cleared the air around this matter.
Rishabh Pant claims release from DC “wasn’t about money”
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Pant claimed that money wasn’t the reason why he wasn’t retained. Hinting at some other issues between DC and their captain before the IPL 2025 season.
DC overhaul before IPL 2025
For the unaware, DC made major changes before the 18th edition of the IPL. The two co-owners of the franchise, JSW and GMR Group, have decided that the men’s team will be handled by GMR until the 2026 season while JSW will take over the women’s team in the Women’s Premier League (WPL).
Ricky Ponting, their head coach from 2018 to 2024, was replaced by Hemang Badani, and Venugopal Rao has taken over from Sourav Ganguly as DC’s Director of Cricket. Ganguly will now be JSW Sports’ Director of Cricketer and might be seen in the WPL.
Pant vs GMR?
The biggest change, however, was letting Pant go. “My retention wasn’t about the money for sure that I can say,” the wicketkeeper’s claim is peculiar. Did DC want to start fresh, and that’s why they decided to clean the house? Or do they have other issues with Pant? It was reported that they weren’t pleased by Pant’s midnight post, where he asked his fans what price he would go for at the IPL 2025 mega auction. Until DC or Pant clearly says what happened, we can do nothing but speculate.
Delhi Capitals retention list for IPL 2025
Retention No. 1 (Rs 16.50 crore) – Axar Patel
Retention No. 2 (Rs 13.25 crore) – Kuldeep Yadav
Retention No. 3 (Rs 10 crore) – Tristian Stubbs
Retention No. 4 (Rs 4 crore) (uncapped) – Abhishek Porel
Purse left – Rs 76.25 crore
