Delhi Capitals are set to release skipper Rishabh Pant ahead of the IPL 2025 retention deadline, retaining only four players, including Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, as they prepare for the upcoming mega auction.
Delhi Capitals (DC) are poised to make a significant move on the 2025 IPL retention deadline day (Thursday, October 30), as skipper Rishabh Pant is expected to be released by the franchise, allowing him to enter the mega auction scheduled for the last week of November.
According to a report by the Times of India, Delhi Capitals have finalized their retention strategy and will retain just four players. Among them is uncapped wicketkeeper-batter Abhishek Porel, who joined the franchise in 2023 as an injury replacement for Rishabh Pant.
Among the three retained capped players, Delhi Capitals will hold onto two Indian stars from the 2024 T20 World Cup-winning campaign: all-rounder Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, who is widely regarded as the country’s premier wrist spinner. Kuldeep joined the franchise in the 2022 mega auction, while Axar has been with the team since the 2019 season, following a trade deal from Punjab Kings.
The Capitals will retain only one overseas player, Tristan Stubbs, who was acquired in the 2024 auction for his base price of Rs. 50 lakhs after spending two seasons with the Mumbai Indians.
DC will have two Right to Match (RTM) cards available at the auction, leaving the possibility open for them to re-sign Rishabh Pant. Notable players released by the Capitals, such as Jake Fraser-McGurk, Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Anrich Nortje, Khaleel Ahmed, and Mukesh Kumar, could be potential RTM candidates.
For months, Rishabh Pant’s retention at DC seemed like a mere formality, given his long-standing association with the franchise since his debut in 2016. However, a cryptic social media post earlier this month, where Pant invited comments on how much he could fetch in the auction, hinted that not everything was as it appeared.
The same report indicates that DC was prepared to retain Pant as a player but decided against continuing his captaincy, which he had held since the 2021 season. Despite the 27-year-old’s desire to remain at the helm and his involvement in appointing the coaching staff, the franchise made it clear that they would not retain him in a leadership role.
The published information suggests that Axar Patel is a potential candidate to lead DC, but the franchise plans to explore options at the auction, particularly considering former skipper Shreyas Iyer, who is set to enter the auction pool after not being retained by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
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