Pant sparks buzz at IPL mega auction with cryptic post-Telangana Today

New Delhi: India wicketkeeper and Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant shocked his fans and the franchise with his cryptic social media post ahead of the upcoming IPL mega auction. Going to X, Pant asked if he went to the pump, how much money would he get or would it remain unsold. Pant wrote: “If it is (…)

New Delhi: India wicketkeeper and Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant shocked his fans and his franchise with his cryptic social media post ahead of the upcoming IPL mega auction. Going to X, Pant asked if he went to the pump, how much money would he get or would it remain unsold.

Pant wrote: “If it goes to auction. Will I be sold or not and for how much?”

The left-handed attacking batsman returned to competitive cricket earlier this year in IPL 2024 after the horrific car accident that ruled him out of the entire 2023 season. He won the ICC T20 World Cup with the Rohit Sharma-led team before returning to the ODI and Test teams.

Following the announcement of the IPL Player Regulations by the BCCI last month, Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal confirmed that Pant “will definitely be retained” by the franchise.

“Yes, we definitely have to retain it. We have some very good players on our team. The rules have been released now, so after discussions with GMR and our director of cricket, Sourav Ganguly, decisions will be taken. Rishabh Pant will definitely be retained,” said Jindal IANS earlier this month.

“We also have Axar Patel, who is excellent, Tristan Stubbs, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Kuldeep Yadav, Abishek Porel, Mukesh Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed, all very good players in our team. We’ll see what happens at the auction. But first, according to the rule, we can keep six players. After discussions, we will proceed with the auction and see what happens”, he added.

Earlier, Pant lashed out at a social media user for claiming his possible link with Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of the IPL mega auction. However, the wicketkeeper reacted strongly to the post and called it “fake news”.

IPL franchises can retain a total of six players from their existing squad. This can be done through retention or using the Right to Match (RTM) option. The six holds/RTMs can have a maximum of five capped players (Indian and foreign) and a maximum of two uncapped players.

The auction value for franchises has been set at Rs 120 million for IPL 2025. The total salary cap will now consist of auction value, incremental performance pay and match fees. Previously, in 2024, the total salary cap (auction stipend + incremental performance pay) was Rs 110 cr, which will now be Rs 146 cr (2025), Rs 151 cr (2026) and Rs 157 cr (2027).