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Rishabh Pant's departure from the Delhi Capitals (DC) ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction has thrown light on some intriguing developments. His 9-year association with the 2020 finalists has come to an end as he was released, with Axar Patel being prioritized for recall by the franchise.
Reports indicate that Pant is not satisfied with the decisions made by co-owners GMR Group, who will manage the team for the next 2 years. This discontent appears to stem from the appointment of Hemang Badani as a head coach and Venugopal Rao as Director of Cricket, which Pant reportedly didn't support.
Moreover, it's been suggested that Pant felt his authority was diminished under GMR Group’s leadership. There were previous discussions about potentially stripping him of the captaincy in favor of Axar Patel.
Acquired by Delhi Capitals in 2016, Pant has been retained through 2 previous mega auctions and has participated in past auctions in person.
Given that ownership of Delhi Capitals is shared 50-50 between JSW Group and GMR Group, management alternates every 2 years. The coming 2025 and 2026 seasons will be governed by GMR Group.
Under their oversight, DC chose to move on from Ricky Ponting, who had served as head coach for 7 years, and replaced legendary Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly as the Director of Cricket for the men's team.
These shifts have seemingly contributed to Pant's discontent, prompting him to seek opportunities with a different franchise in the auction.
Having recently secured the T20 World Cup 2024 title as India’s primary wicket-keeper batter, Pant is likely to be one of the most craved players in 2024's auction pool.