An interesting piece of information has been revealed following Rishabh Pant not being retained by Delhi Capitals (DC) ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. Pant's nine-year connection with the 2020 finalists came to an end as he was released, with Axar Patel being the franchise's first retention. However, a new report has revealed that Pant was left unhappy by the decisions taken by co-owners GMR Group, who will run the franchise for the next two years. This reportedly includes DC's change in coaching staff.
As per a report by PTI, Pant was left dissatisfied by the decision to appoint Hemang Badani as the head coach and Venugopal Rao as the Director of Cricket at DC.
Moreover, it has been reported that Pant was also unhappy about his powers being curbed by the GMR Group. Earlier, it had been reported that Delhi Capitals were considering stripping captaincy off Pant and handing it to Axar Patel.
Pant, who had been bought by the Delhi Capitals in 2016, had been retained through two previous mega auctions, and had even attended previous mega auctions in person.
Due to the 50-50 ownership of Delhi Capitals shared between the JSW Group and the GMR Group, each owner runs the franchise in two-year cycles. 2025 and 2026 will be under the direction of GMR Group.
Under their leadership, DC decided to part ways with Ricky Ponting, who had been their head coach for seven years. Legendary Indian Sourav Ganguly was also replaced as the men's team's Director of Cricket.
It is these changes that have seemingly left Pant unhappy, and caused him to look for a different franchise in the auction.
Pant will arguably be the most sought-after name in the auction pool this year, having won the T20 World Cup 2024 as India's first-choice wicket-keeper batter.
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