India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant on Tuesday (November 19) refuted Sunil Gavaskar's speculation that his non-retention by the Delhi Capitals (DC) was due to financial disagreements.

In a video shared by Star Sports on social media, Gavaskar suggested that Pant and the Capitals might have parted ways over the retention fee.

However, Pant clarified that money was not a factor in him not being retained by the Delhi-based IPL franchise.

"My retention wasn’t about the money for sure that I can say," Pant replied to the post, featuring Gavaskar.  

In the video, Gavaskar can be heard saying, "Auction dynamics are completely different so we don't know how it will go. But I feel Delhi would certainly want Rishabh Pant back in their squad. Sometimes when the player is to be retained, there is talk between the player and the franchise about the fees that are expected and you can see some of the players who have been retained by their franchise have gone for more than what their deduction fee would have been.”

He added, "Maybe there was some disagreement there but my feeling is that Delhi would definitely want Rishabh Pant back.. because they need a captain as well. If Rishabh Pant is not in their squad, they would have to look for that as well. Delhi will definitely go for Rishabh Pant."

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.

Pant is expected to trigger a bidding war in the grand auction, scheduled to be held in Jeddah on November 24 and 25.