Rishabh Pant’s three-word message to LSG after his return to Delhi Capitals. cricket news
New Delhi: Rishabh Pant He had a simple message for the Lucknow Super Giants after his return to Delhi Capitals was confirmed on Tuesday. The wicketkeeper-batsman re-shared LSG’s farewell post on Instagram Stories and wrote just three words: “Thank you team.“The message came soon after Pant’s high-profile trade back to Delhi Capitals in exchange for spinner Kuldeep Yadav.Pant’s departure from LSG ends his disappointing two-year stint with the franchise. The left-handed batsman had joined Lucknow ahead of IPL 2025 for a record-breaking Rs 27 crore, making him the most expensive player in IPL history at that time.However, things did not go according to plan. As captain, Pant struggled to turn LSG into contenders and his performances with the bat also fell short of expectations.LSG finished seventh in IPL 2025 with six wins and eight losses. The next season was even more difficult as the Pant-led side finished bottom of the 10-team table with only four wins from 14 matches.Pant scored 269 runs in 14 matches during IPL 2025. In IPL 2026, he scored 312 runs and registered just one half-century.
The move will see Pant’s salary cut by Rs 12 crore as he will return to Delhi Capitals for Rs 15 crore. He will be reuniting with the franchise where he spent eight seasons between 2016 and 2024.Pant played 111 matches for Delhi before entering the IPL 2025 mega auction and also captained the team from 2021 to 2024, leading them in 43 matches.Interestingly, when LSG signed Pant, owner Sanjiv Goenka had described the deal as a long-term investment. But after two tough seasons, the franchise decided to part ways with the star wicketkeeper-batsman.As part of the trade, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav moved from Delhi Capitals to Lucknow Super Giants at his current salary of Rs 13.50 crore.Kuldeep has been a key player for Delhi since joining the franchise in 2022. He took 72 wickets in 65 matches. However, he did not have a good IPL 2026 season, taking only 10 wickets in 14 matches while conceding runs at an economy rate of 10.30.