Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in IPL Auction history as LSG bought him for a record fee of INR 27 crores.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) broke all records as they paid a whopping sum of INR 27 crores to sign Rishabh Pant from the IPL 2025 Auction in Jeddah on Sunday. They have to fend off an intense bidding war with Sunrisers Hyderabad and then had to raise their bid by almost INR 6 crores after Delhi Capitals enabled the RTM card for Pant.
This has now made Pant the most expensive player in IPL Auction history.
LSG started the bidding at INR 2 crores and RCB joined in next, competing for Pant until 11 crores. SRH entered the fray after that and gave LSG a hard time until 20.50 crores. SRH called it quits with LSG’s bid of INR 20.75 crores. DC were asked whether they want to exercise the RTM card for Pant, which they did. LSG, on being given a chance to raise their bid as per new RTM rules, raised the price to INR 27 crores. That helped them to win an intense battle.
Rishabh Pant’s IPL career has been nothing but a rollercoaster. There was a lot of buzz around him from the Under-19 days and when he was bought by the Delhi Daredevils in the 2016 IPL auction, Pant had made a century for India U-19 in the World Cup on the same day.
Pant didn’t take long to display his talent for Delhi, scoring 69 off 40 balls in just his third match to lead Delhi to a comfortable win over Gujarat Lions.
In the 2017 season, his second with the franchise, Pant further impressed with a quick-fire 97 off 43 balls, again against Gujarat Lions. That the young left-hander could put attacks under fire with his aggressive and innovative stroke play was no longer in question.
But, Pant’s breakout moment came in the 2018 season when he smashed an unbeaten 128 off 63 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad, which boasted of some of the best bowlers in the league that season. It was the then-highest IPL score by an Indian.
In 2021, Pant was appointed captain of the Delhi Capitals after Shreyas Iyer was sidelined with an injury. He retained captaincy in 2022, leading the team with his aggressive batting and developing leadership. However, he missed the 2023 season after the horrible car accident in December 2022 and subsequent recovery.
When Pant came back in 2024, there were obvious question marks around whether he would be able to survive the entire season and remain injury free. He not only did that, but also put in impressive performances to earn a place back in India’s T20I squad for the T20 World Cup, where he played a big part in the title-winning campaign.
He was released by Delhi Capitals and the wicketkeeper batter clearly gave a hint on social media that he would love to be in the auction pool even ahead of the retention deadline. As the auction has unfolded, he will start a new journey with Lucknow Super Giants now.
