Delhi Capitals should retain Rishabh Pant along side Axar Patel and Tristan Stubbs, feels former Mumbai Indians captain Harbhajan Singh.
Delhi Capitals management are still unsure of whether former captain Rishabh Pant will agree to be retained by the franchise ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction next month. There has been a lot of friction between DC co-owners GMR Group and Pant over the last few week as the former are not sure they want to hand back the captaincy reins to the wicketkeeper.
GMR Group, who are handling the running of DC in IPL for the next couple of seasons while co-owners JSW Sports will take care of DC Women’s team, are leaning towards appointing all-rounder Axar Patel as the new skipper replacing Australian opener David Warner from last season. Axar was the DC vice-captain in IPL 2024 season as Pant was making a comeback from injury from his horrific car accident in December 2022.
Former India spinner and Mumbai Indians captain Harbhajan Singh has backed Rishabh Pant, all-rounder Axar Patel and young South African batter Tristan Stubbs as likely retentions of the Delhi Capitals ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction later this year.
With the IPL 2025 retention deadline on October 31, all IPL franchises are brainstorming and finalising their six members to retain or use the Right to Match (RTM) card before heading to the auction market.
“We have heard a lot of speculation on whether Rishabh Pant will be retained or not. Time will tell, but if I was a part of the management there, then I would have retained him. Rishabh Pant should be retained. Axar Patel should be retained. Stubbs should be retained,” Harbhajan told Star Sports.
From dynamic all-rounders to fierce big hitters, @harbhajan_singh has shared his list of 5 players that will be retained by Delhi Capital! 💪🔥
📺 Watch #IPLRetentionsOnStarLIVE on THU, 31 OCT, 4 PM! | #IPLOnStar pic.twitter.com/AqD8ePAjrW
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) October 29, 2024
Pant and Stubbs were the top scorers for the side in the IPL 2024, scoring three half-centuries each in the season and playing at a strike rate of over 150. Stubbs also scored his maiden Test century for SA on Day 1 of their second Test vs Bangladesh in Chattogram on Tuesday.
The 44-year-old further named Jake Fraser-McGurk and Mitchell Marsh as Delhi’s possible retentions after their decent run in the last edition. “And the 4th player to be retained will be Fraser McGurk. And if you want to retain the 5th player, then it could be Mitch Marsh. Apart from that, I think there is no other player that you would want to retain. Out of those 5 players, I think Delhi Capitals should retain at least 4 of them,” the former India off-spinner said.
Delhi Capitals finished sixth in the points table with 14 points in as many games and missed out on the knockout round. The team will look to rebuild their squad in the mega auction to boost their title hopes next year.
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