Rishabh Pant, the Delhi Capitals captain, is likely to be retained by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 auctions. This comes amidst the rumors that Pant and Delhi Capitals are likely to part ways, with the keeper-batter moving to Chennai Super Kings.
Rishabh Pant has been with the Delhi franchise since IPL 2016 and has steadily graduated to become a vital cog in the franchise plans. However, several reports have stated that Pant is set to enter the IPL 2025 auction.
Reports have also linked Pant with a move to the five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK), led by the legendary M.S Dhoni, whose big brother-like friendship and camaraderie with Pant is well known in the cricketing world.
However, the IANS report has stated that Rishabh Pant is likely to stay put with the Delhi Capitals and is set to be retained along with Akshar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav. The trio also became Men's T20 World Cup winners via India clinching the silverware in the shortest format at Barbados on June 29.
Rishabh Pant has 3284 runs in 111 games, averaging 35.31 at a strike rate of 148.93, including smashing a century and 18 fifties for DC in IPL. He took over captaincy in IPL 2021 when Shreyas Iyer got injured and has been DC captain since then.
On the other hand, KL Rahul is likely to bid goodbye to his franchise Lucknow Super Giants, after what happened in IPL 2024, with the owner Sanjiv Goenka berating him in public after a loss.
Reports have stated that Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are in talks with KL Rahul coming back to the franchise. According to sources, RCB is also looking for a local face in their team, as well as a player who can take on the leadership role for the upcoming cycle, both of which Rahul can currently handle.
There has been no official word on the composition of player retentions, as well as the salaries of retained players and the total purse, or whether the Right to Match (RTM) option will be offered at the super auction.
BCCI is set to meet officials from all 10 franchises at the end of this month (or most likely on July 30) to discuss player retentions and other intricacies of the upcoming IPL 2025 auction.
(IANS Report)