"We lost Rishabh Pant the minute we did not retain him" - Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal after IPL 2025 auction
Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal has shed light on their decision to not use the Right-To-Match option for Rishabh Pant in the IPL 2025 auction. Jindal reasoned that he would have ruined the auction for his franchise had he deployed it.
The keeper-batter was one of the hottest properties in the auction and attracted bids from multiple franchises. The 27-year-old eventually became the most expensive player in the IPL auction history, fetching ₹27 crore from the Lucknow Super Giants, surpassing Shreyas Iyer, who went for ₹26.75 to the Punjab Kings in the same event.
Speaking to Rev Sportz, Jindal said he was quite satisfied with how the auction went for the Capitals but was sad about losing Pant. He said (via NDTV):
"After Dada, my favourite cricketer has been Rishabh Pant. In my heart, I am really emotional and sad; I lost my favourite cricketer. He will continue to remain my favourite but very happy with the auction. We lost Rishabh the minute we did not retain him. Let us not try and kid ourselves that we were ever going to get him back in the auction. If I did use Right to Match (RTM) at that price, I would have ruined the auction for Delhi Capitals (DC). Rishabh Pant at 18 crore and at 27 crore he is a completely different proposition."
The southpaw returned to the highest level of cricket after a lengthy absence during IPL 2024. Although his captaincy could not lift the Capitals to the playoffs, he finished with 446 runs in 13 matches at 40.54 alongside a strike rate of 155.40.
"We gave him honest feedback" - Parth Jindal reveals conversation with Rishabh Pant on his performance
Jindal also disclosed that it was a collective decision to release Pant, but suggested that the wicketkeeper-batter did not take their feedback constructively. He explained:
"I don't think it is about ownership here. We were very aligned as an ownership group. It was a very collective decision that was taken. We had lot of discussions with Rishabh. There were things we expected of Rishabh that we did not get last season or in previous seasons. We gave him honest feedback on that. We both, JSW and GMR, Kiran (Grandhi) and I, we are one family, we are united. It was a decision that we took. We gave him feedback. The feedback was not taken as we expected it to be taken. He took an emotional call. He has also grown up in this franchise."
The left-hander could become the captain of the Super Giants in IPL 2025.