Rishabh Pant, the country’s No.1 wicketkeeper-batter, is all set to enter the IPL 2025 auction, according to a report. Ahead of the IPL 2025 retention deadline day on October 31,  it has been claimed that Rishabh Pant won’t be retained by his franchise Delhi Capitals. Pant, after recovering from a major accident, made a return to the IPL last season. He has been a consistent feature in the Indian cricket team as well. The report, however, said that DC management was not convinced about the leadership qualities of Pant in T20. 

“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,” the report in Times of India quoted a source as saying.

“Axar Patel is there as an option but there is a strong possibility of DC exploring options at the mega auction. Plenty of captaincy options are set to enter the mega auction so wait and watch is going to be the right way forward for DC. Shreyas Iyer will definitely be on their radar as he enjoyed a lot of success in the DC set-up and understands the set-up well. A very exciting set of players have been retained and a solid squad can be built around these names.” 

If Pant indeed enters the IPL auction, it would start a bidding war, according to former India player Aakash Chopra.

“It’s being heard that Rishabh Pant might be available at the auction. He is a keeper-batter. Although the jury is out, many people say his numbers in T20s are not that good, had only one breakthrough season in the IPL and hasn’t scored too many runs apart from that. I can give you in writing that the bank would be broken if his name comes in the auction,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

“RCB need a keeper, a batter, and maybe a captain. Punjab would need him as they won’t have anyone. Delhi would need him back, the RTM card would be available. KKR also need him. What about CSK, they would also need him. If Ishan Kishan is left out, Mumbai would also need him.

“Why would LSG not be interested even if they retain Nicholas Pooran? Everyone apart from Rajasthan would need him. Gujarat will also need him. They don’t have a keeper. So overall, Rishabh Pant will get a lot of money. He might go for Rs 25-30 crore.”