New Delhi
Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has revealed that his release from the Delhi Capitals team ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction was not a matter of money. Pant, making his first public reaction after not being retained by the franchise after missing the 2023 edition due to injury for three seasons as captain, contradicted Sunil Gavaskar’s opinion in which he had suggested that the retention fee should be increased. The move was taken due to disagreements and Delhi would like him back in the team.
“My retention was definitely not about money,” Pant wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). Talking about Delhi’s auction strategy on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “Look the dynamics of the auction are completely different, so we don’t know how it will play out, but I think Delhi will definitely want Rishabh Pant in their bid. Would like to return to the team. Sometimes when a player has to be retained, there is a discussion between the franchise and the player about the expected fee. Of the players who have been retained by their franchises, some have asked for more than the number one retention fee.
“So obviously I think there was some disagreement on that, but I think Delhi definitely want Rishabh Pant back because they need a captain as well. If Rishabh Pant is not in their team then they will have to look for a new captain.” Delhi Capitals have two Right to Match cards, which they can use to bring back Pant or any other member of the previous squad in the auction, as they have only retained Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs and Abhishek Porel. Have done.
Earlier, Pant expressed doubts over the franchise retaining him and made a cryptic post on social media. He wrote, “If we go to the auction. So will I be sold or not and for how much?” The aggressive left-handed batsman made a comeback to competitive cricket earlier this year in IPL 2024 after a horrific car accident ruled him out of the entire 2023 season. He won the ICC T20 World Cup with the Rohit Sharma-led side before making a comeback to the ODI and Test teams.
