[EXCLUSIVE] Rishabh Pant can fetch most money in IPL 2025 mega-auction, says former auctioneer Richard Madley

Rishabh Pant was released by Delhi Capitals (DC) ahead of the IPL 2025 (Indian Premier League) mega-auction, which is scheduled to take place on November 24 and 25, in Saudi Arabia's Jeddah. The franchise had no intention to part ways with the keeper-batter but they failed to finalize a deal, leading to the exit of their captain. Delhi instead retained Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs and Abishek Porel and have two Right to Match cards available in the auction.

Pant meanwhile will be available in the auction for a base price of INR 2 crore. As per reports, several franchises are interested in having him on board, particularly Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Franchises such as Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Mumbai Indians (MI) and Gujarat Titans (GT) are also keen on buying him in the auction.

Consequently, this might help the 27-year-old earn a massive paycheck. In the same vein, the former IPL auctioneer, Richard Madley, expected him to fetch the most amount of money in the auction and noted that Delhi might not want to go back to him, despite having two RTM cards available. However, Madley didn’t discuss the price Pant could go under the hammer for and added that the auction was like a lottery system and anything could go down.

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“Rishabh Pant (can fetch most money in IPL 2025 mega-auction),” Madley told exclusively to CricTracker.

“I don't (think he will be on DC’s radar), I think there'll be competition for him. You're asking me now to, we're moving into the area of surmising, and that's not. I tend to deal more in fact. So I'm going to leave that one, leave that one open," he continued further.

Making predictions can bite you: Madley

Furthermore, Richard Madley also pointed out the impact of deep diving into the grey areas of predicting a price for things or an entity when it comes to an auction. Moreover, he deemed an auction like a lottery system where anything unexpected can prevail. Hence given the person of his stature, he preferred to remain tight-lipped about quoting a price for a player like Rishabh Pant, when it comes to the world of the coveted IPL.

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"Yeah, I've kind of learned that not to commit to prices. I was always asked before every auction, who's going to fetch the most, who's going to go and it's an auction. Nobody knows it's a lottery and making predictions can come back and bite you in a painful place,” Madley concluded.