'Rishabh Pant demands salary hike, Delhi Capitals coach reveals in phone calls and messages'

Hemang Badani, the newly appointed head coach of the Delhi Capitals, has shed light on why the franchise was unable to retain wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant. This comes after Delhi Capitals' co-owner Parth Jindal claimed that Pant's departure had nothing to do with money. However, Badani has presented a contrasting explanation, stating that Pant desired to explore the market as he believed his value was higher.

In the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Rishabh Pant was picked up by Lucknow Super Giants for INR 27 crore. Delhi Capitals did exercise their right-to-match option for Pant, however, when LSG raised their bid to INR 27 crore, Delhi pulled out.

Hemang Badani has now stated that Rishabh Pant always felt that he is worth more than the highest cap for retained players -- INR 18 crore.

"I think it's the other way around. He wanted not to be retained. He said he wanted to to the auction and test the market," Hemang Badani told Subramaniam Badrinath on the latter's YouTube channel.

"If you want to retain a player, both parties (the team and the player) have to agree on certain things. We tried talking to him, the management tried talking to him. There were a lot of phone calls and messages exchanged," he added.

Hemang Badani also alleged that Rishabh Pant always wanted to go to the auction as he felt he was worth more than what was being offered to him by Delhi Capitals.

"He said he wanted to go to the auction and test the mark. He said he had a feeling that there were chances he would get more money than the highest cap for retained player, which is ₹18 crore. And, at the end of the day, he felt he was worth more. And the market said the same thing. He got ₹27 crore. Good for him. He is a very good player. We will obviously miss him. But, life goes on," said Badani.

After being picked by Lucknow Super Giants for INR 27 crore, Rishabh Pant became the costliest IPL signing ever in the history of the cash-rich league.

Earlier, Rishabh Pant had denied speculation about his departure, saying his leaving Delhi Capitals did not have anything to do with 'money'. "My retention wasn’t about the money for sure that I can say," Rishabh Pant wrote on X (formerly Twitter), as he responded to a video in which Sunil Gavaskar had said that the wicketkeeper and the franchise might not have agreed on money.

Parth Jindal had also stated that Pant leaving the franchise wasn't about money and it was a case of the wicketkeeper not taking kindly to the feedback given to him.

"We gave him feedback. The feedback was not taken as we expected it to be taken. And yeah, it's okay. He took an emotional call. He has also grown up in this franchise. He was a young boy when he started. Delhi Daredevils gave him the opportunity. Kiran gave him his first opportunity. I came into the franchise later and developed a very strong bond with him," Jindal told India Today.