IPL 2025: "He Felt He Was Worth More" - Delhi Capitals Head Coach Reveals Why Rishabh Pant Entered Auction

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Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Hemang Badani opened up on why former captain Rishabh Pant preferred to be released and entered the IPL 2025 Mega Auction, which took place last month in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

DC released the Indian wicketkeeper-batter ahead of the big auction, where they tried buying him back using the Right to Match (RTM) card, but failed after Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) upped the final bid to Rs 27 Crore, a record fee for a player in the IPL.

Pant would have been a sure shot retention for DC, having started his career with the franchise in 2016 and playing for the team in eight seasons. However, a social media post from the wicketkeeper-batter, questioning how much he would cost if he entered the auction, created doubts about his future with DC.

There was much speculation about DC releasing the player with conflicting reports of the franchise not retaining the player with his captaincy being scrutinized, while there were also rumours that Pant moved on for a big paycheck.

But Pant had taken to social media again and denied that his decision was financially motivated in response to Star Sports' panel members' opinion ahead of the mega auction.

"My retention wasn't about the money for sure that I can say," Pant had posted on X. However, the DC head coach has said that Pant believed he was worth more than the highest retention slab of Rs 18 Crore and wanted to test the market by entering the auction.

When former India batter Subramnian Badrinath asked Badani why Delhi Capitals released Pant during a chat on his YouTube Channel, the DC head coach said, "I think it's the other way around. He wanted not to be retained. He said he wanted to go to the auction and test the market.

"If you want to retain a player, both parties (the team and the player) have to agree on certain things. We tried talking to him, the management tried talking to him. There were a lot of phone calls and messages exchanged."

As the owners have maintained since, Badani also confirmed that the franchise was keen to retain Pant, but the player wanted to enter the auction to see his worth. The DC head coach, however, agreed that he was worth more based on how much Pant was sold for at the auction.

"Yes (Delhi Capitals were interested in retaining him). He said he wanted to go to the auction and test the market. He said he had a feeling that there were chances he would get more money than the highest cap for retained player, which is Rs 18 crore," Badani added.

"And, at the end of the day, he felt he was worth more. And the market said the same thing. He got Rs 27 crore. Good for him. He is a very good player. We will obviously miss him. But, life goes on."