Rishabh Pant's acquisition could have ruined DC's auction: Parth Jindal

Delhi Capitals (DC) did not retain their skipper Rishabh Pant ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction and at the two-day event in Jeddah, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) procured the southpaw's services for a record 27 crore. 

At 20.75 crore, DC decided to use their Right-to-Match (RTM) card. But LSG then decided to take it up a notch by saying they are willing to splash INR 27 crore for Pant, after which DC backed off.

Co-owner Parth Jindal admits that if DC had decided to match that, too, it would have ruined the auction for them. 

"After Dada [Sourav Ganguly], my favourite cricketer has been Rishabh Pant. In my heart, I am really emotional and sad; I lost my favourite cricketer. He will continue to remain my favourite but very happy with the auction," Jindal told Revsportz.

"We lost Rishabh the minute we did not retain him. Let us not try and kid ourselves that we were ever going to get him back in the auction. If I did use Right to Match (RTM) at that price, I would have ruined the auction for Delhi Capitals (DC). Rishabh Pant at 18 crore and at 27 crore he is a completely different proposition."

Jindal admitted that he and his fellow co-owner Kiran Kumar Grandhi chatted with Pant, trying to persuade him to stay, but he wanted to move in a different direction, thereby closing the doors on DC—Pant's only IPL franchise so far.

Jindal admits that his emotions got the better of him at the auction, and that's why DC decided to raise the paddle, opting to match the exorbitant price.

"We had lot of discussions with Rishabh. There were things we expected of Rishabh that we did not get last season or in previous seasons. We gave him honest feedback on that. We both, JSW and GMR, Kiran and I, we are one family, we are united," Jindal said.

"It was a decision that we took. We gave him feedback. The feedback was not taken as we expected it to be taken. He took an emotional call. He has also grown up in this franchise.

"He was a young boy when he started. Delhi Daredevils gave him his first opportunity. What transpired is not what I want to get into. We had a long discussion. In the end, Rishabh decided he did not want to stay. Both Kiran and I made all efforts. 

"He decided he wanted to go in a different direction. At the time, I told him 'Rishabh, it's okay, I will not go for you in the auction.' My heart took over in the auction. I tried getting him back but then the price became too high. It was a joint decision we took."

With LSG's 27 crore bid, Pant became the most expensive player in IPL history, pipping Shreyas Iyer, who was purchased at 26.75 crore by Punjab Kings (PBKS) just a few moments earlier. 

If you’ve not downloaded the Cricket.com app yet, you’re missing out on our content — big time. Download the App here