“Not sure” – Rishabh Pant’s retention tweet leaves DC perplexed before IPL 2025 mega auction

Rishabh Pant’s out-of-the-blue post left the Delhi Capitals (DC) scratching their heads. The wicketkeeper batter has been with DC since he debuted in 2016 and has been their captain since 2021. Pant isn’t just any regular player; he’s one of the best batters in IPL history and has grown in stature in the league and international cricket.

Pant’s meeting with DC co-owners

Parth Jindal had already confirmed him as their top retention ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. “Rishabh Pant will definitely be retained,” the DC co-owner had said during a media interaction on October 2. Pant had also travelled to Dubai to meet with the second co-owner, Kiran Kumar Grandhi, in Dubai after the India vs Bangladesh Test series ended.

His “weird” tweet

They seemed to have reached an agreement over his retention with all IPL teams, given 31st October as the deadline for announcing their retention picks ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. However, a couple of days ago, Pant took everyone by surprise. Around midnight on October 13, he posted from his X (formerly Twitter) account: “If I go to the auction, will I be sold or not, and for how much ??” 

People weren’t sure whether he was just joking around or was indicating something. There were previous reports that he’d join the Royal Challengers Bengaluru or the Chennai Super Kings ahead of the IPL 2025 season, but he quashed those rumours. So posting this after that really makes no sense.

DC perplexed

It turns out the Delhi Capitals are equally perplexed. They aren’t sure Pant did what he did. “We’ve seen it, and we’re not sure why he did it (the post on X),” a DC source told Cricbuzz. Was it just a mistake or was it intentional? Right now, it seems like neither the general public nor his IPL franchise knows.