Aakash Chopra On Rishabh Pant Going To RCB: Former Indian cricketer-turned-broadcaster Aakash Chopra believes that Royal Challengers Bengaluru should target and go after wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant in the IPL 2025 mega auction, even if his price goes over Rs. 25 crores.
Pant, who made his IPL debut in 2016, was released by the Delhi Capitals ahead of the auction. This came as a surprise to many. Not only is Rishabh one of the most promising and most high-profile players in the Indian Cricket Team, but he was also the captain of the Capitals.
The 27-year-old has been with the Delhi-based franchise for his whole IPL career, which spans nine years (apart from the 2023 season, which he missed due to injury). He was one of the players who could have remained with a single franchise for well over a decade, becoming the greatest cricketer in DC history, like Virat Kohli has been with RCB for 17 seasons and is the biggest player in team history.
Speaking of RCB, they will be going into the IPL 2025 mega auction with one of the biggest purses out of all teams. They have retained only three players for the upcoming seasons: Kohli for 21 crores, Rajat Patidar for 11 crores, and Yash Dayal for 5 crores. Having spent 37 crores on retention, they now have 83 crores in their purse.
And with a massive purse come big aspirations. Teams with the largest budgets have the luxury to go after the biggest players in the auction. And who is a bigger player in the pool than Pant?
While the player pool for the mega auction is stacked with big-name talent, Rishabh Pant might be the most high-profile among them. Fans and experts believe that he will be the most expensive player in the IPL 2025 mega auction. He might also become the most expensive player in IPL history.
Aakash Chopra On Rishabh Pant Going To RCB
Aakash Chopra, who played for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the first-ever season of the IPL in 2008, believes that Rishabh and the Royal Challengers are a perfect match. In an auction preview video on his YouTube channel, Chopra had this to say,
“In the middle, Rishabh Pant. Will you go towards Rishabh Pant? In my opinion, they should go towards him. Again, small ground, it will suit him as well. Please go for him even if you have to go till ₹25 crore.”
But Pant is not the only wicketkeeper-batter on RCB’s radar, as the recently released captain of the Lucknow Super Giants, KL Rahul, is expected to be bought by the franchise. About his potential signing with the Bengaluru-based franchise, Aakash Chopra said,
“If you feel you don’t need Rishabh Pant and need KL Rahul because he is a local boy and knows this ground as well, he will also like the small ground and flat pitch. So you can also try to bring him with you. I don’t think this team will go that aggressively for Shreyas Iyer because they will leave him for Delhi.”
Apart from Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings are the only other teams with more than Rs. 70 crores in their purse. While DC has 73 crores after retaining four players, PBKS has a massive budget of 110.5 crores after just retaining two uncapped players.
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