File picture of Delhi Capitals player Rishabh Pant
| Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar

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Star India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant will take part in the upcoming mega auction ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 after not being retained by Delhi Capitals (DC), according to ESPNcricinfo.

The report stated that the talks between the owners of the Delhi-based franchise and Pant have failed after it stretched for almost past few months.

As per ESPNcricinfo, Delhi Capitals have retained Indian spinners Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, South Africa batter Tristan Stubbs and uncapped Indian wicketkeeper-batter Abishek Porel.

After retaining three capped and one uncapped players, DC will be left with ₹73 crore with which they will build their squad at the upcoming mega auction.

The 27-year-old Pant joined the Delhi-based franchise in 2016 and started leading the Capitals in 2021.

In 2020, Delhi Capitals reached their first-ever final under Shreyas Iyer. However, in the last season, they narrowly missed the playoffs based on net run rate, with seven wins, seven losses, and a total of 14 points.

Axar Patel appeared in 14 matches in IPL 2024 and scored 235 runs at a strike rate of 131.28. He also picked up 11 wickets at an economy rate of 24.00. Tristan Stubbs also played in 14 matches in IPL 2024 and scored 378 runs at a strike rate of 190.91.

In IPL 2024, Kuldeep Yadav played 11 matches and managed to get 16 wickets at an economy rate of 8.70. On the other hand, uncapped player Abhishek Porel took part in 14 matches for the Delhi-based franchise and scored 327 runs at a strike rate of 159.51.

Earlier in the month, former Indian cricketers Hemang Badani and Venugopal Rao joined the coaching staff of Delhi Capitals as head coach and director of cricket, respectively, ahead of the next season of the IPL.

Meanwhile, cricketing icon and one of India’s most successful captains, Sourav Ganguly has been named as Director of Cricket for JSW Sports.