After deciding to leave Delhi Capitals, Rishabh Pant is unarguably the most sought-after player in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction. A player of Pant’s stature is bound to be on the radar of every single IPL franchise in the mega auction, though those with the biggest purse balance stand the maximum chance of signing him. The franchise with the biggest purse balance remains Punjab Kings, having only retained 2 uncapped players. With former Delhi Capitals mentor Ricky Ponting being their head coach, Pant has been strongly liked with the franchise. Now, the Australia great has broken the silence on the matter.
Speaking to the broadcaster, Star Sports, ahead of the auction, Ponting admitted that Pant remains one of those players the franchise has spoken about. With the biggest purse balance (Rs. 110.5 crore), Ponting admitted that PBKS have big ambitions in the auction. But, he also said that there remain other players to buy too.
“Oh look, we’ve spoken about lots of players in the auction. I mean, Rishabh is going to be a target for most teams, you’d think,” Ponting told Star Sports.
“Certainly the ones that have kept a big enough purse. So we go into the auction with the biggest purse, but when you think about that, when you break it down, we’ve only kept the two players,” he added.
“So by the time we’ve bought another three or four players, our purse is going to be back the same as everyone else’s. So it’s not that big of an advantage, only the fact that we probably should be able to lock away our top three or four picks going into the auction.”
“So yeah, look, we’ve spoken about Rishabh, we’ve spoken about lots of players, and now we have to make sure that we just stick to our strategy,” Ponting explained.
Earlier, Pant confirmed that his departure from Delhi wasn’t down to money. Hence, the wicket-keeper batter might be looking at a few other things he wants from the franchise he is next going to join.