Rishabh Pant Will Remain At DC, RCB Will Place An Auction Bid For This IPL Captain: Source
Previous rumors indicated that, prior to the IPL 2025 season, Rishabh Pant would be searching for a new IPL club.
Sources have assured IANS unequivocally that Rishabh Pant, a wicketkeeper-batter, will stay with the Delhi Capitals (DC) ahead of the IPL 2025 super auction, despite rumors circulating throughout the day. The media has been claiming since Saturday morning that Pant, who is also DC’s captain, would be quitting the team. They have also suggested that he would join the five-time champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who are led by the renowned M.S. Dhoni, whose bond and friendship with Pant are well-known in the cricket community.
However, sources informed IANS that Pant is still very much a part of DC and that the team plans to keep him along with Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, who have been key players for the team in recent seasons. The three also won the Men’s T20 World Cup after India won the trophy in Barbados on June 29 in the shortest format.
Pant joined the team in 2016, having been selected by them at the auction on the same day that he hit 111 off 96 balls to lead India over Namibia by 197 runs in the Men’s U19 World Cup quarterfinal in Bangladesh.
Since then, Pant has established himself as a DC regular, scoring 3284 runs in 111 games at an average of 35.31 and a strike rate of 148.93. He has also smashed a century and eighteen fifties, winning him a devoted fan base.
In addition to taking 75 catches and making 38 stumpings as a wicketkeeper for DC, who is looking for a new head coach after Ricky Ponting left the position, Pant captained the team in the IPL in 2021, 2022, and 2024.
KL Rahul to join RCB?
Meanwhile, rumors have surfaced that K.L. Rahul may be joining Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) from Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Sources say that while discussions on the move are still in their “very early stages,” anything might happen in the future.
Though LSG ended in seventh place in the points table in 2024, Rahul has been heading the team since their first IPL debut in 2022. Rahul played for the Royal Challenge Bangalore (RCB) in 2013 and 2016. During his second spell, he amassed 397 in 14 innings, including four half-centuries, and helped the team finish second that year.
In addition, sources told IANS that while Rahul is capable of taking on leadership roles going forward, RCB is anxious to have a player with a local face and the ability to do so in the next cycle.
The composition of player retentions, as well as the total purse and retained players’ salaries, have not yet been made public. Additionally, it is unknown if the Right to Match (RTM) option will be offered at the massive auction.
For the time being, all eyes will be on the meeting between the BCCI and the ten franchise owners, which is scheduled for the end of this month (probably on July 30). After that, there will be a flurry of activity in the following months until the deadline for the retained players’ submissions and the trade period begins.