“Would Have Ruined Auction…”: Delhi Capitals Co-Owner Parth Jindal Breaks Silence On Rishabh Pant’s Departure

Rishabh Pant‘s Rs 27 crore bid by Lucknow Super Giants was the spotlight of the IPL 2025 mega public sale. When LSG proprietor Sanjiv Goenka raised the bid to Rs 27 crore – essentially the most for any participant in IPL history- each different franchise fell silent. From subsequent season, Indian cricket workforce star Rishabh Pant would don the LSG jersey. This marked the tip of a protracted journey of Rishabh Pant with Delhi Capitals franchise. DC co-owner Parth Jindal was emotional about Pant leaving.  

“After Dada, my favourite cricketer has been Rishabh Pant. In my heart, I am really emotional and sad; I lost my favourite cricketer. He will continue to remain my favourite but very happy with the auction,” Parth Jindal instructed Revsportz.

“We lost Rishabh the minute we did not retain him. Let us not try and kid ourselves that we were ever going to get him back in the auction. If I did use Right to Match (RTM) at that price, I would have ruined the auction for Delhi Capitals (DC). Rishabh Pant at 18 crore and at 27 crore he is a completely different proposition.”

Jindal additionally mentioned that he and DC co-owners GMR had a chat with Rishabh Pant earlier than releasing him, and shared their suggestions.

“I don’t think it is about ownership here. We were very aligned as an ownership group. It was a very collective decision that was taken. We had lot of discussions with Rishabh. There were things we expected of Rishabh that we did not get last season or in previous seasons. We gave him honest feedback on that. We both, JSW and GMR, Kiran (Grandhi) and I, we are onr family, we are united. It was a decision that we took. We gave him feedback. The feedback was not taken as we expected it to be taken. He took an emotional call. He has also grown up in this franchise,” Jindal mentioned.

“He was a young boy when he started. Delhi Daredevils gave him his first opportunity. What transpired is not what I want to get into. We had a long discussion. In the end, Rishabh decided he did not want to stay. Both Kiran and I made all efforts. He decided he wanted to go in a different direction. At the time, I told him ‘Rishabh, it’s okay, I will not go for you in the auction.’ My heart took over in the auction. I tried getting him back but then the price became too high. It was a joint decision we took.”