Former South African captain AB De Villiers doesn’t expect the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to go after Rishabh Pant in the upcoming IPL mega auction.
Pant was not retained by the Delhi Capitals (DC) on October 31, the last date to unveil the list of retained players for IPL 2025. The wicketkeeper-batter is expected to trigger a bidding war in the grand auction, scheduled to be held in Jeddah on November 24 and 25.
"I think it is incredibly unlikely that RCB will get hold of Rishabh Pant, I think he will be too expensive and all the franchises are going to go for him in the auction. I do feel Punjab Kings spend whatever they can to get him, that's my personal feeling. It's my gut feeling, I feel there is a very tight connection between him and Ricky Ponting. I think we are going to see him at Punjab Kings," said De Villiers on his YouTube channel.
"We'll see what happens, if not, it would be great if RCB can have Rishabh, but I just think, he is going to be too expensive. I want RCB's focus to be on the bowling department, a world-class spinner and also some local players. Want some Bengaluru players in there, I have heard Anil Kumble say it before that they don't keep their local players, quality talented local players," he added.
Rishabh Pant returned to lead the Capitals in IPL 2024 after missing the 2023 season due to injuries sustained in the horrific car accident. The southpaw scored 446 runs in 13 games at an impressive strike rate of 155 in this year’s IPL. However, his team failed to qualify for the playoffs.
DC last reached the IPL playoffs in IPL 2021, while their best-ever finish in the tournament is when they finished as finalists in 2020 under Shreyas Iyer's captaincy.
Meanwhile, news agency PTI has reported that Delhi Capitals co-owners GMR Group are interested in bringing Shreyas back to the team, and have even promised him leadership role.
The Capitals have retained India all-rounder Axar Patel, star spinner Kuldeep Yadav, South Africa all-rounder Tristan Stubbs and uncapped Indian wicket-keeper batter Abhishek Porel ahead of the mega auction.
RCB, on the other hand, have retained the services of Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, and Yash Dayal.
