No Rishabh Pant; Delhi Capitals Keep Axar, Kuldeep Among 4 Retained Players For IPL 2025
Delhi Capitals to release Rishabh Pant before IPL 2025 (Source: @harsh03443/X)
In a shocking development which has raised eyebrows of many, Delhi Capitals are all set to release their highly-admired asset Rishabh Pant before the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) edition. As reported by Times of India (TOI), the Delhi-based franchise are ready to retain Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Tristan Stubbs along with Indian uncapped Abhishek Porel.
However, it is yet to be known who could be the first retention of the franchise. In addition, with Pant no longer at the helm, it will be interesting to see whether Delhi will use RTM on Pant or will search for a new leader from the upcoming season onwards. Nevertheless, the possibility of Pant being back at DC is less likely, as he wanted to be their leader in coming years, which the franchise did not want to happen.
"Rishabh Pant wanted captaincy, wanted to be involved with regards to appointment of coaches and support staff but plenty in the DC set-up are not convinced about his T20 game. It wasn't that they wanted to let him go but they were clear that they didn't see him leading the side. And that decision wasn't an overnight one," a source told TOI.
When Did Rishabh Pant Join Delhi Capitals?
Delhi bought Rishabh Pant way back in 2016, and the 27-year-old has been with them since then. Overall, he has played 111 matches for the franchise, and has made 3284 runs at an aggressive strike rate of 148.93. His best season came in IPL 2018, where he tallied a staggering 684 runs in just 14 matches, that too at a staggering strike rate of 173.60.
How Will Delhi Capitals' Retention List Look Like Before IPL 2025?
However, while Abhishek Porel, being an uncapped player, will surely get an INR 4-crore contract, it is still unknown who will be Delhi's first, second, and third retainers. Ideally, Axar should be their top retention, which could help him to get a whopping INR 18 crore contract.
Kuldeep and Stubbs are expected to follow Axar, which would help them get INR 14 and 11 crores, respectively. In all, these four players, including Abhishek, would cost Delhi INR 47 crores, which means they will have INR 73 crore purse during the auction next month.