Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant’s final destination in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season has been a major source of interest for most cricket fans around the world. Recently Pant was linked with a move to Virat Kohli’s side Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) which the Delhi Capitals captain vehemently denied.
Now ahead of the IPL 2025 retention deadline on October 31, there is rising speculation that Pant could be headed to five-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to join his mentor and friend MS Dhoni. CSK are on the look-out for replacement for Dhoni, who will surely not be playing in the IPL beyond the next season.
In fact, it is still uncertain if Dhoni will play in IPL 2025 or if CSK will retain him as an ‘uncapped’ player even with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) bringing back the old rule that those cricketers who have not played international cricket for five years can be classified as ‘uncapped’ player. It remains to be seen if Dhoni will agree to a massive pay-cut from Rs 12.5 crore currently to Rs 4 crore if he is retained as an ‘uncapped’ player.
“We are not sure at this stage. We might not even use it for MS Dhoni. It’s still too early to comment on this because we haven’t had discussions with him. Dhoni was in the US and we haven’t had discussions yet. Now I am travelling this week, so there is a possibility of some discussions in the coming week. So there could be some clarity then. We are hopeful of him playing but it’s a call Dhoni will himself make,” CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan said in an interview with Times of India.
Under these circumstances, CSK could be eyeing Pant as a potential replacement to possibly even lead the side in the future.
Trade details of Pant to CSK:
Pant & CSK have an verbal agreement
Pant will Take the top retention spot if the deal goes through
Final decision lies with Dehli Capitals
Ruturaj will be the captain as of now, pant hasnt asked for captaincy or any such as of now. pic.twitter.com/sst5Bn0L6H— (@SergioCSKK) July 20, 2024
Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal discussed the players that the IPL franchise may look to retain apart from Rishabh Pant, led by Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhishek Porel, Jake Fraser-Mcgurk, Tristan Stubbs, Mukesh Kumar, and Khaleel Ahmed. “Yes, we definitely have to retain. We have some very good players in our team. The rules have just come out, so after discussing with GMR and our director of cricket, Sourav Ganguly, decisions will be made. Rishabh Pant will definitely be retained.
“We also have Axar Patel, who is excellent, Criston Stubbs, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Kuldeep Yadav, Abishek Porel, Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, all very good players in our team. We’ll see what happens in the auction. But first, as per the rule, we can retain six players. After discussions, we will proceed with the auction and see what happens,” Jindal was quoted as saying by IANS news agency.
However, the call to retain players lies with co-owners GMR Sports this season. According to a deal between GMR and JSW, the co-owners take cricketing decisions in alternate years. However, when it comes to matters of retention it is usually a join decision.
