New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) Delhi Capitals’ co-owner Parth Jindal on Tuesday lamented Rishabh Pant’s departure from the franchise and hoped to reunite with him in the foreseeable future after the Indian wicketkeeper-batter was snapped up by Lucknow Super Giants at a record price in the IPL mega-auction.
Delhi Capitals had released their captain Pant ahead of the auction where he became the most expensive player ever with a Rs 27 crore bid from LSG.
The Capitals did attempt to get the swashbuckling southpaw back in their fold on the first day of the auction, but backed out of Right To Match owing to LSG’s mammoth bid.
“To Rishabh @RishabhPant17 you are and will always remain my younger brother – from the bottom of my heart I love you and I have tried everything to make sure you are happy and have treated you like my family,” Jindal wrote in an emotional post on X.
Jindal continued, “I am very sad to see you go and I am very emotional about it. You will always be in DC and I hope one day we can reunite.” “Thank you for everything Rishabh and remember that we will always love you – go well champ, the world is at your feet. Best wishes from all of us at @DelhiCapitals – other than when you play DC I will be cheering and hoping for the best for you!” Jindal added.
Pant responded to the post by saying that he shares the same sentiment.
“Thanku bhaiya the feeling is mutual. Means a lot,” he said.
Pant had made himself available for the mega auction following differences with the franchise, co-owned by JSW Sports and GMR, and later claimed in a social media post that his move was not “about the money for sure”.
In his farewell note for the franchise, Pant also acknowledged the fans for making his “journey worthwhile”.
“Goodbyes are never easy,” he said.
“The journey with Delhi Capitals has been nothing short of amazing…I’ve grown in ways I never imagined. I came here as a teenager and we grew together over the last nine years,” Pant posted on X tagging Delhi Capitals.
“As I move on, I carry your love and support in my heart. I’ll look forward to entertain you whenever I take the field. Thank you for being my family and making this journey so special,” he added.
Delhi Capitals bought 19 players in the auction after retaining four including Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Tristan Stubbs and Abhishek Porel.
They bought back Jake Fraser-McGurk for Rs 9 crore and also added India batter KL Rahul to the squad for Rs 14 crore as one of their major signings.
Commenting on how the auction panned out for the franchise, Jindal said, “The auction went completely to our plan. I would like to compliment the entire support staff, who worked tirelessly on devising the entire auction strategy. We have built a very balanced team, we are very happy.” PTI BS DDV PM DDV PM PM
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