Will Rishabh Pant return home? Kuldeep Yadav will go to Lucknow, Indian wicketkeeper will suffer a loss of Rs 12 crore

New Delhi. Not even a month has passed since the IPL season ended, but the murmur of major upsets has increased in the corridors of cricket. This time the biggest news of the trade window is related to Rishabh Pant, who will once again be seen in the jersey of Delhi Capitals. Apart from this, big names like Kuldeep Yadav are also in the center of discussion at this time. According to sources, Delhi Capitals have prepared a high-profile ‘player swap’ deal with Lucknow Super Giants for Pant’s return.

This big change in Delhi Capitals is happening due to the reshuffle in the internal management of the franchise. Parth Jindal-led JSW Group is going to take charge of the team for the next two years. JSW’s Jindal has always been a big admirer of Rishabh Pant’s game and his leadership. Even when Pant was released by the GMR Group ahead of the 2025 mega auction after disagreements over some issues with the Delhi management, Jindal was in favor of his return. Now as soon as JSW took command, they intensified their efforts to bring back Pant. This is a kind of ‘homecoming’ for Pant, because he also plays domestic cricket for Delhi.

Kuldeep Yadav will go to Lucknow, Pant will have to bear huge financial loss
To implement this trade, Delhi Capitals will hand over their star spinner Kuldeep Yadav to Lucknow Super Giants. It will also be a homecoming of sorts for Kuldeep as he represents Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket. However, the biggest stumbling block in this entire trade was Rishabh Pant’s record-breaking salary. In the IPL auction, Lucknow bought him for a huge amount of Rs 27 crores. It was almost impossible for any franchise to empty its purse of such a huge amount and trade a player. To break this deadlock, Pant took a big and shocking decision.

chose sport over money
Rishabh Pant has agreed to take a huge pay cut in his salary to make this transfer possible. This is exactly the same step taken by Ravindra Jadeja when he joined Rajasthan Royals last season. Pant’s revised fee will now be a little more than half of his current salary. According to sources, Pant has now agreed to play for Delhi at a fee of around Rs 15 crore, which means he will have to bear a direct loss of Rs 12 crore. On the other hand, there will be no change in the salary of Kuldeep Yadav who is going to Lucknow and he will continue to get Rs 13.25 crore.

Why did you part ways with Lucknow Super Giants?
Pant’s departure from Lucknow Super Giants was considered certain. The team management had come to the conclusion that the franchise now needed a new direction and new leadership. Even before the end of the season, it was agreed between all the parties that Pant would step down from the post of captaincy. Lucknow’s performance under Pant’s captaincy was very disappointing and the team struggled for two consecutive seasons, which ended with finishing at the bottom in the points table this year.