India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant’s trade from Lucknow Super Giants to the Delhi Capitals will reportedly involve a massive pay cut. According to Cricbuzz, the former LSG skipper has accepted a contract worth Rs. 15 crore at DC, losing a staggering Rs. 12 crore, or 44%, from his record contract in Lucknow.
Pant’s IPL journey has been marked by constant change. After scoring 3,284 runs in 111 matches for DC between 2016 and 2024 and captaining the side, his release ahead of the 2025 auction came as a surprise. At the time, there were murmurs that the ownership change was a big reason behind it.
DC is co-owned by JSW Group and GMR Group, who have equal stakes, and are in an arrangement to run the franchise for two years each, alternatively.
Pant’s departure coincided with GMR’s takeover from JSW, whose return from IPL 2027 is set to be marked by Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh’s entry, too.
In 2024, LSG signed Pant for a record Rs 27 crore, with owner Sanjiv Goenka backing him to become one of the IPL’s all-time greats and leading the team for a decade. But the move failed to deliver. Pant scored just 581 runs in two seasons at a strike rate of 135.75, while LSG finished seventh and tenth in the standings.
His captaincy was regularly criticised, and following a disappointing 2026, Pant stepped down as captain. He’s unlikely to captain DC in IPL 2027, as he did in his final two years at the franchise in the first stint, with KL Rahul a leading contender to take over.
Kuldeep Yadav is moving the other way
The report also claimed to confirm the earlier reports that left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav will move from DC to LSG. His price will remain the same — his last retention salary of Rs 13.25 crore.
This means LSG will pay Rs. 1.25 crore and trade Pant to DC. But the Lucknow-based franchise will gain an additional Rs. 15 crore in their purse for the IPL 2027 auction, which will happen later this year.
