Pant to be retained by DC ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction: Reports

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 might be at least eight to nine months away, but the buzz around the retention of players ahead of the mega auction has already gained momentum. 

Some media outlets have gone on to report as to who might or might not be retained. The latest addition to that list is Delhi Capitals’ skipper Rishabh Pant. 

After the news of Pant being released by the Capitals started doing the rounds on July 20 (Saturday), IANS, a news wire agency, has now quoted sources saying that the 26-year-old wicket-keeper batter is an indispensable member of the Capitals and they are unlikely to let go of him at any cost. 

Not only Pant, but spin-duo Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav will also be most likely retained by the Delhi-based franchise ahead of the IPL mega auction. The trio was part of India’s T20 World Cup-winning campaign in June 2024. 

Earlier, the Capitals relieved their long-time head coach Ricky Ponting of his position. The replacement of the Aussie is yet to be announced by the franchise. 

While Pant has been with the Capitals since the start of his IPL career in 2016, Axar joined them in 2019 from Punjab Kings and Kuldeep was roped in by the Ponting-led management in 2022 from the Kolkata Knight Riders. 

All-rounder Axar has picked up 61 wickets and scored 967 runs in his 82 matches for the team. 29-year-old Kuldeep has 47 wickets from 39 games at the Capitals. 

Skipper of the side, Pant led the Capitals to the playoffs in his first season in the role in 2021. Injury forced Pant out of IPL 2023 and in 2024, he tried his best to take the team forward, but once again could only take them to the fifth position in the table. The Uttarakhand-born, who also plies his trade for Delhi in domestic cricket, has smashed 3284 runs in 111 matches at an average of 35.31 and a strike rate of 148.93. 

He also has a positive win-loss captaincy record, winning 23 of his 43 matches as captain and having a win percentage of 54.65. 

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