He highlighted a factor that Pant had previously denied.
In a shocking claim, Delhi Capitals (DC) coach Hemang Badani has opened up about the truth behind their former skipper Rishabh Pant opting to leave the franchise ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) season.
Badani revealed that Pant believed he deserved more money than the highest retention slot of INR 18 crores. Pant, thus, decided to put his name in the auction as he felt he was worth more than what Delhi Capitals were offering.
Speaking in a video of former India cricketer Subramaniam Badrinath’s YouTube channel, Hemang Badani revealed,
“He (Rishabh Pant) said he wanted to go to the auction and test the mark. He said he had a feeling that there were chances he would get more money than the highest cap for retained player, which is ₹18 crore. And, at the end of the day, he felt he was worth more. And the market said the same thing. He got ₹27 crore. Good for him. He is a very good player. We will obviously miss him. But, life goes on.”
Rishabh Pant had previously denied speculations that his departure was based on money
Rishabh Pant made history as the most expensive signing in IPL history after being acquired by the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for a staggering amount of INR 27 crore. Interestingly, Rishabh Pant had previously denied speculation about his departure, saying his leaving Delhi Capitals did not have anything to do with ‘money’.
“My retention wasn’t about the money for sure that I can say,” Rishabh Pant had written on X.
LSG, on the other hand, had let go of their skipper of the last three seasons – KL Rahul and needed to find a player who can take over the captaincy role.
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While there has been no official confirmation yet from the Sanjiv Goenka-owned franchise, it is expected that Rishabh Pant will be bestowed with the captaincy reins from the forthcoming IPL 2025 season.
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