"Mereko andar se ek hi tension tha" - Rishabh Pant names franchise he thought would sign him at IPL 2025 auction

Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is set to lead the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. Franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka made the announcement in a special chat on Monday, January 20.

Pant was released by the Delhi Capitals after a nine-year stint ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. LSG broke the bank and struck a massive bid of INR 27 crore to sign the star batter ahead of the new season.

As he broke the record for the most expensive player in the history of the league, it was also expected that Rishabh Pant would lead the side. He was also present along with Goenka during the special chat.

Pant was asked about which team he thought he would go to in the mega auction. He cheekily mentioned the name of the franchise he thought that would sign him. In a shocking revelation, the left-hander stated that he was tensed that the Punjab Kings would sign him.

"Mereko andar se ek hi tension tha, woh tha Punjab (I had only one tension from within and that was Punjab). Second highest (purse) was 82 crore. Punjab had 112 crore. When Shreyas (Iyer) went there, then I thought I could go to LSG. I thought there might be a possibility," Pant said while speaking on the chat on Star Sports.

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Rishabh Pant's captaincy record in IPL

Rishabh Pant, previously part of the Delhi Capitals, led the team in 43 IPL matches during his stint. He led the side for three seasons in 2021, 2022 and 2024. Pant missed out on the IPL 2023 season due to injury.

Delhi finished as table-toppers after the league stage in 2021. However, they lost the first qualifier against the Chennai Super Kings and the second qualifier against Kolkata, thus failing to win the title.

In 2022, they finished fifth on the points table and narrowly missed out on securing a spot in the top four. When Pant returned in 2024 and led the side, they once again could not go past the league stage and finished sixth.

Out of 43 games, Rishabh Pant has managed to win 23 as captain, facing 19 defeats. He has a win percentage of 53.48. Pant is still young as a leader in the IPL and will face several challenges as he prepares to lead Lucknow in the upcoming season.