Picture Credit: X
Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Capitals’ newly-appointed coach Hemang Badani recently shared shocking as well as surprising details around star Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who was released by the franchise ahead of the mega auction. Speaking in an interaction with S Badrinath, Badani revealed that the Indian keeper-batter wanted more money and did not want to be retained in the INR 18 Crore bracket, which was offered by the franchise.
However, the DC Head Coach also clarified that Pant wanted to test his market value instead of being retained. It is to be noted that after DC released Rishabh Pant, he was bought by the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for record-breaking INR 27 Crore, making him the most expensive player in the IPL auction history.
He wanted not to be retained: Hemang Badani’s shocking revelation on Pant
Speaking on S Badrinath’s YouTube channel, Hemang Badani 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."
"Yes (Delhi Capitals were interested in retaining him). He said he wanted to go to the auction and test the mark. He said he had a feeling that there were chances he would get more money than the highest cap for retained player, which is INR 18 Crore. And, at the end of the day, he felt he was worth more. And the market said the same thing. He got INR 27 Crore. Good for him. He is a very good player. We will obviously miss him. But, life goes on," he added, as quoted by India Today.
However, Rishabh Pant’s opinion to get into the auction proved correct after he attracted a bid of INR 27 Crore, he had earlier stated that his retention “wasn’t about money”. Taking to X, Pant had written, “My retention wasn’t about money for sure that I can say.” Furthermore, DC co-owner Parth Jindal also clarified, “It was just a different philopsophy of how he wanted the franchise to operate and how us - the owners - wanted the franchise to operate. That;s what caused Pant’s departure. There’s nothing to do with money.”
