Lucknow Super Giants had the highest bid of IPL 2025 mega auction for Rishabh Pant which was Rs 27 crore. As soon as LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka hiked the bid to Rs 27 crore-the most for any player-all other franchises went silent. From next season on, the Indian cricket team star will wear the jersey of LSG, thus ending a long journey of Rishabh Pant with the Delhi Capitals franchise. Emotional words from DC co-owner Parth Jindal were meant for Pant’s leaving.
“After Dada, my favorite cricketer has been Rishabh Pant. I am very emotional and sad today; my favorite cricketer has been lost. But very happy with the auction that he will continue to remain my favorite,” Parth Jindal said to Revsportz.
“We lost Rishabh the moment we did not retain him. Let’s 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.”
Jindal said that he and DC co-owners GMR had a conversation with Rishabh Pant before releasing him and shared their views too.
“It was not about ownership at all. 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 that we expected from Rishabh and we did not get it last season or in previous seasons. We gave him honest feedback about it. We both, JSW and GMR, Kiran (Grandhi) and I, we are one family, united. It was the decision which we gave him feedback on and the feedback was not as we expected it to be taken. He took an emotional call. He has also grown up in this franchise, Jindal stated.
He was very young, right, when he started. Delhi Daredevils was his first outing, really. What went on from that point is not what I’m going to get into, but we spent a long time discussing. At the end of that, Rishabh chose that he would not like to stay. Kiran and I really bent over backward to try and make it work. He just decided he wants to go in a different direction. At that time, I told him ‘Rishabh, it’s okay, I will not go for you in the auction.’ My heart took over in the auction. I said, “I will try to get him back,” but then the price became too high. It was a joint decision we took.”
