BIG COMMENT/ IPL Auction: Rishabh Pant Breaks Silence On His Delhi Capitals Exit And The Role Of Money Behind It

IPL Auction 2025: The Indian Premier League has revolutionised the game of cricket in many ways. With new talents coming up every year, the cash-rich IPL is the most sought after franchise-based cricket tournament. The upcoming IPL Mega Auction has been grabbing a lot of eyeballs and it promises to be a blockbuster event. The IPL 2025 Player Mega Auction will take place on  November 24 and 25 at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The IPL player retentions that were announced on October 31, 2024 shocked many cricket fans with the likes of Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant being released from their respective franchises. These three players have now gone back to the auction pool and few franchises might break the bank to secure their services for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League.

Rishabh Pant Breaks Silence On Delhi Capitals Exit

Delhi Capitals and Rishabh Pant have been synonymous with each other. The prolific India wicketkeeper-batsman has been playing for Delhi ever since he played in the IPL. Before the player retentions, Pant had put out a quirky tweet asking fans about the price that he'll get if he enters the auction. In a recent episode on Star Sports, former India cricketer and the winner of the 1983 World Cup Sunil Gavaskar discussed the curious case on Pant and Delhi Capitals.

'The auction dynamics are completely different, so we don't know how it will go. But what I feel is Delhi would certainly want Rishabh Pant back in their squad', said Gavaskar. Rishabh Pant was quick to react to the video and he instantly said that his retention was nowhere related to monetary issues.

ALSO READ | Mohammad Kaif Fires Warning To Punjab Kings Over Ricky Ponting's Appointment

The Much-Awaited IPL Mega Auction

Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Arshdeep Singh will headline a 574-strong list of players with top base price of Rs 2 crore at the upcoming Indian Premier League auction scheduled in Saudi Arabia's Jeddah on November 24 and 25. Thirteen-year-old India U-19 cricketer Vaibhav Suryavanshi from Bihar is the youngest among the lot at Rs 30 lakh base price.

ALSO READ | IPL & Ranji Trophy-winning Head Coach Omkar Salvi Named As RCB's New Bowling Coach

The BCCI on Friday pruned the initial list of 1574 players down to 574 out of which 366 are Indians and 208 from overseas. All the current India players are in top base price bracket. Apart from Pant, set to be the costliest buy at the auction with a team like Punjab Kings aiming to go the distance with Rs 110.50 crore in its kitty, the other big names include IPL winning captain Shreyas Iyer, India's most prolific T20I bowler Arshdeep Singh, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal and Avesh Khan.

There are 81 players in the top bracket while 27 are in Rs 1.5 crore category. There are 18 in the Rs 1.25 crore category while 23 have priced themselves at Rs 1 crore.

(With PTI Inputs)