Delhi Capitals didn’t retain the star player Rishabh Pant ahead of the much-awaited IPL 2025 mega auction. A PTI news report recently explained why Pant and the Delhi Capitals split before the auction.
Delhi Capitals signed Rishabh Pant for ₹1.90 crore during the 2016 auction, outbidding Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Pant has been an important player for DC over the past eight seasons, even winning the Emerging Player of the Year award in 2018.
The left-handed batter was part of the Delhi team that made it to their first IPL final in 2020. He became the team captain in IPL 2022 but missed IPL 2023 due to a serious car accident. Pant returned the next season and was DC’s top run-scorer.
A report said that Pant was unhappy with decisions made by the GMR Group, DC’s co-owners, about changes in management. He was not pleased with Hemang Badani’s appointment as head coach and Venugopal Rao as the Director of Cricket.
Pant especially felt that his authority was being cut back. DC is jointly owned by the JSW and GMR Groups, who will lead in 2025 and 2026. The team has decided to part ways with head coach Ricky Ponting and replace Sourav Ganguly as the Director of Cricket.
“It was a very emotional moment for all the stakeholders. Pant has been an integral part of the franchise since he was first bought in 2016. The owners and Pant didn’t want this relationship to end easily. So, they kept trying till the end. But Pant decided that he would rather leave on good terms than be a bone of contention,” TOI quoted a source as saying.
“The GMR group was the sole owner of the team when Pant was bought in 2016. They share a very fond relationship with Pant. But Pant expected a greater role in the franchise, which was agreed upon in August. But somehow that wasn’t translating into anything,” the source said.
The Times of India reported that Rishabh Pant and DC management had different views on the franchise’s future. Pant felt pushed aside by the recent coaching changes and had expected a bigger role, which didn’t happen.
