Taking a sly dig at Punjab Kings, Rishabh Pant said he was worried about going to Punjab Kings in the IPL 2025 mega auction. The keeper-batsman made the comment during an interview with Jatin Sapru on Star Sports.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka was also seated alongside Rishabh Pant. During the same interview, the Delhi star was also confirmed as the new LSG captain. He replaced his Indian teammate KL Rahul as the new captain of LSG.
Rishabh Pant had been playing for Delhi Capitals since his first IPL season in 2016. In 2021, he was also named the captain of the team. Since then, he has led the Delhi Capitals in all seasons except 2023, where he was out of action after being seriously injured in a life-threatening car accident.
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Not many expected Rishabh Pant to sign up for the auction, but he finally did after failing to seal a deal with Delhi Capitals. The hard-hitting batsman was expected to bag a lucrative contract in the IPL 2025 mega auction and eventually ended up becoming the most expensive player in the history of the IPL. LSG got his services for INR 27 crores.
Rishabh Pant takes a dig at Punjab Kings:
After being confirmed as LSG captain, Rishabh Pant decided to try his luck against Punjab Kings, saying he feared the franchise would go after him. With Punjab Kings having the highest purse, the former Delhi Capitals captain was sure that the franchise would fetch him big at the auction.
However, before Pant was auctioned, Punjab Kings had signed IPL-winning captain Shreyas Iyer for INR 26.75 crore. Although Pant did not reveal the reason for his concerns about leaving for Punjab Kings, his comments made it clear that he did not want to join the franchise and reunite with his former Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting .
“I had only one concern, and that was Punjab,” Rishabh Pant said before laughing.
“The second highest purse was 82 crores (Royal Challengers Bengaluru had a purse of 83 crores), while Punjab had 112 crores (110.5 crores). So in the beginning when Shreyas went there , I felt that now I might end up going to LSG,” he added.
he really said that, “ek hi tension tha, punjab” because of the handbag they had.
— 𝒑.💌 (@ssnoozefest) January 20, 2025
In the mega auction, LSG and RCB started the bidding for Pant. After RCB dropped out, Sunrisers Hyderabad decided to make an offer for the Indian star. The two franchises took the bid to INR 20.75 crore before SRH dropped out and Pant was sold to LSG.
However, Delhi Capitals have decided to exercise their Right-to-Match (RTM) card in an attempt to buy out their captain. As per the new rules, LSG was given another opportunity to increase its bid and the Lucknow-based franchise made a winning bid of INR 27 crore. With DC refusing to match the offer, LSG eventually secured Pant’s services for a record price.
