Delhi Capitals (DC) co-owner Parth Jindal explained the franchise’s decision not to use the Right-to-Match (RTM) card for Rishabh Pant in the IPL 2025 auction. Jindal admitted that utilizing it would have disrupted the franchise’s auction strategy.
Pant, one of the most sought-after players, attracted intense bidding and ultimately became the most expensive player in IPL history, securing ₹27 crore from Lucknow Super Giants. This surpassed Shreyas Iyer’s ₹26.75 crore bid by Punjab Kings at the same auction.
Speaking to Rev Sportz, Jindal expressed satisfaction with the Capitals’ overall auction performance but acknowledged the emotional difficulty of losing Pant (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 made his return to top-level cricket during IPL 2024 after a long break. Despite his efforts as captain, the Capitals fell short of making the playoffs. However, he showcased his form, amassing 446 runs in 13 matches with an impressive average of 40.54 and a strike rate of 155.40.
“We provided him with honest feedback”- Parth Jindal shares insights on his discussion with Rishabh Pant
Jindal revealed that the decision to release Pant was collective but hinted that the wicketkeeper-batter did not respond positively to their feedback. He elaborated:
“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 is a potential candidate to be the captain of the Super Giants in IPL 2025.
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