Rishabh Pant posted a cryptic tweet earlier today (November 19), which hinted that he is unlikely to return to Delhi Capitals for the 2025 Indian Premier League.
Pant has only represented Delhi Capitals in his IPL career and was made the captain of the franchise in 2021. He took over from Shreyas Iyer a season after the latter guided them to their first final in the tournament’s history. Iyer moved on to Kolkata Knight Riders since, taking the team to their third title this year. Pant, on the other hand, stuck with the franchise, and was even retained by the side ahead of the 2023 edition despite a serious car accident that would have seen him miss the entire season.
However, the left-handed wicketkeeper was not retained by the franchise ahead of the 2025 mega-auction, to be held later this year. A tweet from the player also suggests that he could move on from the franchise after representing them in 111 games. He made 3,284 runs for them at an average of 35.31 and a strike rate of 148.93 along with a high score of 128*, his only century in the league.
Under Pant's leadership, Delhi finished fifth in 2022 and sixth this year.
Has Pant moved on from Delhi Capitals?
It appears that Pant’s nine-year association with the team might be finally ending after a reply under a tweet, where Sunil Gavaskar suggested Pant was unhappy with the retention fees being offered to him. Speaking on Star Sports, Gavaskar said: “The auction dynamics are totally different. We don’t know how that will go. Delhi would certainly want Rishabh Pant back in their squad.
“Sometimes when a player is to be retained, there is a talk between the franchise and the player about the fees that are expected. Some of the players who have been retained by their franchise, they have gone for more than what the number one retention fee would be. So, maybe there was some disagreement over there, but my feeling is Delhi would want Rishabh Pant back.”
However, he refuted the theory, saying that his non-retention was not about money. “My retention wasn’t about the money for sure that I can say.”
Earlier, ahead of the finalisation of the retention lists, Pant had also asked his fans on X (formerly Twitter) if he would be sold if he entered the mega-auctions and how much he could fetch.
Pant’s reply might be looked at as an indication that his decision to step away from Delhi Capitals has been taken for him to consider newer opportunities with other franchises.
Here is the budget left for each team ahead of the auction.
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