New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Amid the festive Diwali celebrations across India, speculation was rife about Rishabh Pant’s potential move to the IPL 2025 mega auction after moving on from the Delhi Capitals, his team since 2016.

Delhi Capitals confirmed the speculations in cricketing circles at 5:30 pm on Thurday by announcing their retained players - Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, and Abishek Porel, without including Pant. This was a turn of events that took even the most loyal fans of DC and Pant by surprise.

The social media platforms and comments section of the franchise’s posts buzzed with the primary question from the retention deadline day: the reason behind Pant entering the mega auction and the conclusion of his nine-year tenure with Delhi Capitals.

Let’s go back to July when the first rumours surfaced about Pant possibly joining Chennai Super Kings for the upcoming IPL season. The rumours at that time were connected to his camaraderie with the renowned MS Dhoni, a central figure for CSK who is approaching the later part of his career.

But was told by sources at that point of Pant very much being on top of the DC retention pecking order, followed by Axar and Kuldeep, with Stubbs and Porel in the mix too. In September, many still believed Pant would be the top retention for DC, especially after people saw him meeting Parth Jindal, co-owner of DC and founder of JSW Sports, at BKC in Mumbai before he joined the Indian team for the Test series against Bangladesh.

On October 2, a smiling Jindal had said to reporters in Hisar, “Rishabh Pant ko pakka rakhne walle hai (Rishabh Pant will definitely be retained).” But just after midnight on October 12, Pant posted on X (formerly Twitter), “If I go to the auction, will I be sold or not and for how much ??” This left everyone busy on social media trying to figure out the meaning of his unexpected tweet.

Though many fans felt Pant was tweeting in jest amidst the auction chatter gaining steam on social media and in cricketing circles, it now comes across as a move by him testing the waters of entering the mega auction.

The announcement made jointly by GMR Group and JSW Group on October 17 introduced a pivotal change in the Pant retention narrative. They stated that the management of the Delhi Capitals IPL and WPL teams would change every two years.

The managerial understanding meant GMR Group would drive cricketing operations of the Delhi Capitals Men’s team for the next two years, followed by JSW taking up the reins from 2027.

The statement, though, said key decisions like auctions, captaincy, player release and retentions of both teams will be made by the Delhi Capitals’ board, and will be decided mutually by senior leadership of both groups.

On the very same day, sources had told that former India cricketers Hemang Badani and Venugopal Rao were to be made DC’s head coach and director of cricket respectively, stepping into the roles previously held by Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly, a move confirmed by the franchise later in the afternoon.

From there onwards, chatter of differences in opinions emerged between Pant and the DC ownership – in terms of captaincy, coaching staff, vision of growing the team forward in upcoming three-year cycle of the IPL, and bringing all on and off-field stakeholders on the same page. The retention amount for Pant was not a concern because it was to be a substantial one.

As of October 30, it was uncertain if Pant would remain with DC, with a meeting scheduled that evening between him and the owners. However, that night, sources told that Pant would enter the mega auction pool, marking the end of his nine-year stint with DC.

Sources informed that on the morning of the retention deadline, DC attempted a final push to retain Pant. However, their efforts did not yield the expected outcome when the retention deadline of 5:30 pm passed, leading to his departure from DC and becoming the biggest entry in the IPL 2025 mega auction.

Pant’s entry into the auction pool creates a range of possibilities for teams like Lucknow Super Giants, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Punjab Kings, who are now guided by Ponting, to secure a wicketkeeper-batsman like Pant with recent IPL leadership credentials.

Moreover, it is worth noting that CSK is planning for a future without Dhoni in the IPL and Pant is very much on the radar. Suresh Raina, a member of the 2011 ODI World Cup-winning team and a four-time IPL winner with CSK, alluded to it during the retentions deadline show on JioCinema’s Hindi broadcast.

“The time when I met MS Dhoni in New Delhi recently, Rishabh Pant was also present. So, somewhere I feel that something big will happen, and someone could be wearing a yellow jersey soon.”

But CSK’s auction purse of INR 55 crore may hinder their efforts to secure Pant. From the perspective of DC and Pant, it represents the culmination of a meaningful and emotional connection. Pant was signed by DC for INR 1.9 crore in the 2016 IPL auction, which was the largest sum awarded to a player from the Indian team competing in the 2016 U19 World Cup in Bangladesh.

On that very day, Pant’s outstanding performance of 111 runs off 96 balls for India against Namibia in the quarter-final match at Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah signalled the start of his fruitful bond with DC.

Pant’s rise to stardom as a swashbuckling keeper-batter for DC was fuelled by his growing fan base, particularly among teenagers and young adults of all genders, drawn to his connection with Delhi.

Whenever IPL games took place at Feroz Shah Kotla, now named Arun Jaitley Stadium, shirts in a range of DC shades with his jersey number from ‘777’ to ‘17’ sold rapidly. His connection with DC reached its peak when he assumed the role of captain in the 2021 season, making him the fifth youngest IPL captain at that point.

In all, Pant led DC in 44 matches, where they won 24 games and lost 19 matches, and no title coming in their kitty. The 2023 season saw him sidelined by injuries from a serious car accident, leaving DC with a weak lineup and resulting in a disappointing ninth place finish - their worst performance in the 2022-2024 cycle.

Pant’s return to competitive cricket through this year’s IPL attracted large crowds in Delhi, leading to a significant increase in merchandise sales and ticket revenue. For DC to get all of that without brand Pant in their ranks for the next three years will be a tough ask.

The team’s possession of two Right To Match (RTM) cards for the mega auction may lead to Pant returning to DC, but due to the unpredictable nature of the auctions, nothing is guaranteed.

Time will tell if Pant, now a T20 World Cup winner despite his highly fluctuating white-ball returns, will be back at DC or not for the upcoming three-year commitment in the IPL. But for now, Diwali 2024 marks the conclusion of a defining chapter in Pant-DC partnership.