Rishabh Pant Opens Up About IPL Price Tag: 'You Can't Help But Feel Disappointed'

On Monday, Lucknow Super Giant (LSG) introduced Rishabh Pant as their captain for the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, after acquiring him for a record-breaking amount. The highly sought-after wicketkeeper-batsman was the talk of the town during the auction, surpassing the record set by Shreyas Iyer's acquisition by the Punjab Kings. Despite the frenzy around him, Pant remained focused and trained himself not to become too preoccupied with his monetary value.

“The thought process is very simple. When I came to the auction, I did not have any price in mind,” said Pant on Hotstar as he sat alongside franchise owner Sanjeev Goenka. The 27-year-old was the captain and pretty much the face of the Delhi Capitals until last season. He was among the headline names in the IPL mega auction this year and LSG ended up splashing INR 27 crore for him.

"It did not matter if I was bought for ₹5 crore or ₹10 crore in my head. And I had to convince myself of that. It is not easy, but you have to tell yourself that every day, because you do feel disappointed. You have to convince yourself that this (money) is not the priority list; this is only a part of it. Getting that money is amazing, but thinking about it every day should not be the main thing," said Pant.

My ideology of captaining a side doesn't change

Pant then joked that he will not feel any pressure as long as the owner of he franchise won't feel it as well. "If the owner says that he does not have any pressure, then I do not have any pressure (laughs)," Pant added.

He takes over as captain of LSG from KL Rahul, who was the franchise's captain for three seasons from their inception to last season. Pant had been with DC since 2016 and took over the franchise's captaincy in 2021. He led them in all season except 2023, when he missed a season as he recuperated from a car crash.

"Yes this is a new team and a new set-up but my ideology of captaining a side doesn't change. But as a cricketer you are [always] trying to add to your captaincy. If you give confidence and trust in a player, he will do things you can't even imagine. That's the ideology we will try to have. We will give them trust, clear communication and lay out what role we have for them," he said.

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