Rishabh Pant has finally found a new home in the IPL, with Lucknow Super GIants making him the most expensive player in the history of the tournament. The franchisee signed him for ₹27 Crore after being released by the Delhi Capitals. Earlier LSG had released KL Rahul ahead of the auction.
DC retained key players such as Axar Patel (₹16.5 crore), Kuldeep Yadav (₹13.5 crore), Tristan Stubbs (₹10 crore), and Abhishek Porel (₹4 crore), but parted ways with Pant. He entered the 2025 auction with a starting price of ₹2 crore and was part of marquee set 1. This was only Pant's second time in the IPL auction.
Rishabh Pant's IPL journey
Pant’s IPL journey began in 2016 when he was still a member of the India U19 team. That year, Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) bought him for ₹1.90 crore. He was named captain ahead of the 2021 season after Shreyas Iyer was injured, and he was retained as captain for IPL 2022 at a hefty ₹16 crore.
After a life-threatening car accident in December 2022, Pant made a strong recovery and returned to the IPL in 2024. He was reinstated as the captain of Delhi Capitals and impressed with a solid 446 runs, even though the team had another underwhelming season. Despite his strong leadership and form, Pant’s long association with Delhi came to an end before the IPL 2025 season.
