Rishabh Pant shocked one and all by leaving Delhi Capitals (DC) before the IPL 2025 mega-auction. He was DC's homegrown player and looked set to stay with them forever. Rishabh shockingly left the franchise and decided to enter the mega-auction. While Rishabh confirmed that his exit had nothing to do with money, DC's new head coach has made a shocking reveal.

Speaking to Subramaniam Badrinath on his YouTube channel, Hemang Badani said that Rishabh didn't want to get retained. As per Hemang, Rishabh wanted to go to auction and test the market.

"I think it's the other way around. He wanted not to be retained. He said he wanted to go the auction and test the market. If you want to retain a player, both parties (the team and the player) have to agree on certain things. We tried talking to him, the management tried talking to him. There were a lot of phone calls and messages exchanged," Hemang revealed.

"Yes (Delhi Capitals were interested in retaining him). He said he wanted to go to the auction and test the mark. He said he had a feeling that there were chances he would get more money than the highest cap for retained player, which is Rs 18 crore. And, at the end of the day, he felt he was worth more. And the market said the same thing. He got Rs 27 crore. Good for him. He is a very good player. We will obviously miss him. But, life goes on."

Rishabh created history at the IPL 2025 mega-auction and became the costliest pick. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) bought him for Rs 20.75 crore. DC used their Right to Match card to retain him. LSG raised the bid to Rs 27 crore, which DC didn't match.

Rishabh started his IPL career with DC in 2016 and played for them till 2024. He took over captaincy in 2021 and led the team till his exit. DC haven't won an IPL title yet.

Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Cricket, Sports and around the world.