AB de Villiers believes Rishabh Pant’s return to the Delhi Capitals ahead of IPL 2027 came as little surprise, saying there were already indications that the wicketkeeper-batter was unhappy during his
time with the Lucknow Super Giants. The former South Africa captain pointed to Pant’s demeanour when speaking to the media/broadcasters and suggested tensions may have extended beyond on-field results.
Pant was traded back to Delhi in exchange for Kuldeep Yadav, ending a two-season stay with LSG and returning to the franchise where he started his IPL journey in 2016. The wicketkeeper took a significant pay cut to return to DC, dropping from the IPL-record Rs. 27 crore at LSG to Rs. 15 crore at DC.
“No surprises there after the season they’ve had and looking at some of his post-match interviews, there were already signs of him being frustrated and maybe the frustration is coming from the ownership and coaching staff as well. So he is returning back to DC,” De Villiers said.
During the season, where LSG finished tenth, Pant repeatedly spoke about ‘too many voices’ in the dressing room without pointing directly to the team’s unusually large support staff.
Pant’s homecoming coincides with a significant reshuffle at Delhi. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly is set to join as director of cricket, while Yuvraj Singh is expected to take over as batting coach. The changes are clearly related to the change of guard at management, with 50% co-owners JSW taking control of the team for the next two years under its unique agreement with the other 50% co-owners, the GMR Group.
De Villiers questioned whether so many changes at once would help the franchise.
“I feel it is a bit wishy-washy, doing this whole ownership change, the coaching staff comes and goes, it’s really difficult for players to react to that and have a positive mindset with all these changes taking place. It can be confusing and there is no doubt about that,” he said.
The 42-year-old also highlighted the timing of Pant’s return.
“It is also interesting how Pant skipped the two-year GMR cycle. JSW coming back in now, we’ll see how they go with their two-year ownership. All confusing, you know, I am not a big fan of that,” he added.
de Villiers said Pant’s lower pay might take some pressure off him and encourage better form than his LSG years, but he remained unconvinced by Delhi’s overall direction, adding, “With the whole ownership model, coaching staff changes, I don’t see a lot of light at the end of the tunnel for DC.”
