Rishabh Pant wants to captain India, difference in philosophy led to Delhi Capitals exit: DC co-owner Parth Jindal | Cricket News

Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal said differences in philosophy between Rishabh Pant and the team eventually led to his exit from the franchise at the IPL 2025 Mega Auction in Jeddah last Sunday.
While the Capitals did not retain the India wicket-keeper, Jindal and Co. went up till the Rs 20.75 crore mark to use the Right-to-Match (RTM) card for Pant before Lucknow Super Giants made a humongous lift to Rs 27 crore and snapped up the bid. Pant, in turn, became the most expensive signing in IPL hory, with former DC captain Shreyas Iyer following him at Rs 26.75 crore to Punjab Kings.
Though Delhi bid for both their former captains, Jindal said that the two batters had blown way past their expected budgets. When asked if captaincy and money were among the concerns, Jindal clarified to ESPNcricinfo that: “It was just a different philosophy of how he wanted the franchise to operate and how we–the owners–wanted the franchise to operate. That is what caused it. It has nothing to do with money. Money has never been an issue for Rishabh, and money’s never been an issue for us. I guess the three of us (Kiran Grandhi, Jindal, and Pant) were on different wavelengths. He took a call at the end of it. We tried everything, but he decided eventually that it was time to move on.”
“My retention wasn’t about the money for sure that I can say,” Pant had written in X recently in response to Sunil Gavaskar who had presumed the retention policies could have come in the way.

Thanku bhaiya the feeling is mutual. Means a lot 😇😇
— Rishabh Pant (@RishabhPant17) November 26, 2024
Pant’s desire to captain India
The DC owner added that it was a blow to lose Pant at the Mega Auction. “I love the boy like my own brother. He took a call at the end of the day. We tried our best. He made the decision, and we have to respect it,” he added.
Jindal said that though the franchise offered inputs to Pant on his leadership, that was not among the reasons of his release from the side. “We gave him some feedback regarding leadership. We suggested ways he could improve, but we were quite clear about his ambitions. We know where he wants to go. He has made it amply clear that his dream and desire is to captain India, and that starts with captaining an IPL team,” he concluded.
Pant was an early favourite for India’s vice-captaincy role across formats before his accident in 2022. The Delhi batter led India in a five-match T20I series against South Africa that ended in a 2-2 draw.