India's first-choice wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant parted ways with his IPL side Delhi Capitals after nine years of association on Thursday. The big-hitting unorthodox left-hander was not among the players retained by the Delhi team. Instead, they retained Axar Patel (Rs 16.5 crore), Kuldeep Yadav (Rs 13.25 crore), Tristan Stubbs (Rs 10 crore), Abhisek Porel (Rs 4 crore) and earned two Right to Match (RTM) cards.
It is certain that the mega auction ahead of IPL 2025 will witness a fierce bidding war to get the service of Rishabh Pant. The 27-year-old is the all-time leading run-scorer for the Capitals and is also the most-capped player along with Amit Mishra. According to ESPN CricInfo, as captain, Pant scored 1205 runs while averaging 35.44 - almost identical to his overall IPL average of 35.31 - at a strike rate of 143.96, only slightly worse than his IPL strike rate of 148.93.
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However, one may wonder why the Delhi Capitals decided against retaining their captain. With age, form and experience well on his side, why did the franchise leave him for the bidding tables?
Or was it Pant who decided to move on? Here is the story so far.
Delhi Capitals's ownership structure is a complicated one with co-owners Delhi's GMR conglomerate and Mumbai-based JSW Group getting powers to control management for two years at a time. Rishabh Pant, who is a JSW recruit, wasn't the top choice for GMR management headed by co-owner Kiran Kumar Grandhi, news agency PTI reported.
The moment GMR took charge of the side, they removed earlier coaching management including former Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly, who was replaced by Venugopal Rao. According to the news agency, captain Rishabh Pant wasn't happy with the appointment of Rao and Hemang Badani, who possibly would have been given powers to overrule the skipper.
Pant and the team management did sit down and the discussions that took place last month weren't fruitful. Pant didn't want to work with unfamiliar coaching staff thrust on him by the new management and decided to end his association with the capitals.
Meanwhile, Parth Jindal of the JSW maintained later on Thursday that DC's retention decisions were strategically executed with the best interest of the team in mind. “In Axar, Kuldeep, Tristan and Abhishek we have the ideal blend of experience and youth, and I am very pleased with our retention. I would have liked to retain more players who have turned out for DC, but the rules mean we have to pick strategically,” Jindal was quoted as saying.
"I would have liked to retain more players who have turned out for DC, but the rules mean we have to pick strategically. Our intent is to build a strong and balanced squad that can bring home a much-awaited IPL trophy to our city," Parth Jindal reportedly added.