Rishabh Pant’s furious response to Sunil Gavaskar saying he left Delhi Capitals because of money

Indian batter for the wicketkeeper Rishabh Pantarguably the hottest name in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction has confirmed that he has not left Delhi Capitals due to differences with the franchise over his retention. Pant’s reaction came after India batted well. Sunil Gavaskar suggested that the wicketkeeper-batsman may have left the franchise due to controversy over his retention. But Pant confirmed that this was not the case.

In a video released by Star Sports ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, Gavaskar highlighted that top players sometimes decide to leave their franchises to understand their true value in the auction. Assuming Pant’s case was the same, Gavaskar expects Delhi to be Delhi’s target again in the auction.

“Delhi would certainly like to have Rishabh Pant back in the squad. Sometimes, when a player needs to be retained, there is a conversation between the player and the franchise about expected fees. As you can see, some of the players that were retained by the franchise, they went for more than the No. 1 retention fee. There may have been some controversy (fees) there.

“I think Delhi would definitely like to get Pant back because they also need a captain. If Rishabh Pant is not in their team, they will have to look for a new captain,” the Indian cricket legend said in the video.

I can say that my retention was not related to money.

— Rishabh Pant (@RishabhPant17) November 19, 2024

Reacting to the video, Pant said his exit from the franchise was not about money.

“My retention was not about money as far as I can tell,” Rishabh Pant said in his reply to a post on X earlier on Twitter.

After him, Pant is expected to have all 10 franchises. However, the balance of the franchises suggests that he is likely to join one of the Punjab Kings, Lucknow Super Giants or Royal Challengers Bengaluru. For now, even a return to Washington cannot be ruled out.