On 31st October 2024, all the IPL teams announced the list of their retained players and with a great surprise the star wicket-keeper batter of the team Rishabh Pant has left Delhi Capitals and joined the auction pool for the upcoming IPL season. In the IPL 2024, Delhi Capital had an average outing where they finished in the sixth position in the points table but now Rishabh Pant will get a new contract in the upcoming season.
Rishabh Pant has been a key player for Delhi since 2016 and has helped build the team’s future. But recent reports say he is no longer in the team’s plans after the GMR Group and JSW Group divided their responsibilities. Even though Pant had an offer to stay, changes within the team led him to choose to enter the auction as a free agent.
Pant told the Delhi Capitals management in mid-October that he decided to join the IPL 2025 auction. Because of his talent and potential, many teams are likely to be very interested in him, and he is expected to get a high price in the upcoming mega auction.
“Pant has had a cordial relationship with both owners. But it was getting difficult to have a common vision and direction where the team was headed. To get so many people on the same page at so many levels was something he was unsure of. 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 and be a bone of contention,” TOI quoted a source as saying.
Delhi Capitals have named Hemang Badani as their new head coach and Venugopal Rao as the Director of Cricket. Interestingly, these decisions were made without asking for input from Rishabh Pant, who was the team’s previous captain.
“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 Aug. But somehow that wasn’t translating into anything.”
