‘My retention wasn’t about money for sure’: Rishabh Pant ahead of IPL auction

India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has revealed that his release from Delhi Capitals squad ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction was not about the money.

In his first public reaction since news broke that he was not retained by the franchise which he captained across three seasons, before missing the 2023 edition due to injury, Pant countered Sunil Gavaskar's suggestion that the move was due to a disagreement on the retention fees and that Delhi would want him back in the squad.

'My retention wasn’t about the money for sure, that I can say,' Pant wrote on X.

Talking about Delhi's auction strategy to Star Sports, Gavaskar had said, "See, the auction dynamics are completely different, so we don't know how it will go; but what I feel is that Delhi would certainly want Rishabh Pant back in their squad. Sometimes when the player has to be retained, there's talk between franchises and players about the fees that are expected..."

"As some of those who have been retained by their franchise, they've gone for more than, say, what the No. 1 retention fee would be. So clearly, maybe, I think there was some disagreement over that; but my feeling is Delhi definitely want Rishabh Pant back because they need a captain as well. If Rishabh Pant is not in their squad, then they have to look for a new captain," said Gavaskar.

Delhi Capitals have two Right to Match (RTM) cards, which they can use at the auction table for Pant or any other previous squad member, having only retained Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs and Abhishek Porel. Earlier, Pant had cast doubt over his retention by the franchise and posted a cryptic post on social media. He wrote, 'If [I] go to the auction, will I be sold or not and for how much??'

The left-handed attacking batter made his return to competitive cricket earlier this year in the IPL 2024, after a horrific car crash ruled him out of the entire 2023 season. He went on to win the ICC T20 World Cup with the Rohit Sharma-led side, before returning to ODI and Test squads.