"Frustrated": AB De Villiers Gives Blunt Verdict On Rishabh Pant Returning To Delhi Capitals
AB De Villiers said that there was little surprise that Rishabh Pant joined Delhi Capitals from Lucknow Super Giants ahead of IPL 2027.
- Rishabh Pant moved from Lucknow Super Giants to Delhi Capitals before IPL 2027 season
- Pant resigned as LSG captain after 2026 and was traded for spinner Kuldeep Yadav
- Delhi Capitals will have Sourav Ganguly as Director of Cricket and Yuvraj Singh as batting coach
Legendary South Africa cricketer AB De Villiers said that there was little surprise that Rishabh Pant joined Delhi Capitals from Lucknow Super Giants ahead of IPL 2027. Pant resigned from LSG captaincy after the 2026 season and he was traded to DC in exchange for spinner Kuldeep Yadav. De Villiers pointed at Pant's statements to the press following the 2026 season and said that the tensions were quite apparent. While the wicket-keeper batter was bought by LSG for a record Rs 27 crore, he took a massive paycut to join DC for just Rs 15 crore.
“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. So he is returning back to DC," De Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
DC are themselves about to undergo a massive change. Former Indian cricket team skipper Sourav Ganguly is all set to join as Director of Cricket while Yuvraj Singh reportedly joining as batting coach. It will be part of the changes brought by co-owners JSW taking control of the team for the next 2 year under the agreement with other owners - the GMR Group.
De Villiers questioned whether so many changes will be beneficial for 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.
Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya is on his way out of Mumbai Indians and the five-time IPL winners have at least got two feelers for a potential trade -- one from Shah Rukh Khan co-owned Kolkata Knight Riders and the other from Rajasthan Royals.
There have been multiple discussions between the top management of KKR and the owners of Mumbai Indians over a swap, an IPL insider privy to the development told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Pandya's second coming to Mumbai Indians has been a tumultuous one with only one entry into the play-offs under his leadership.
"Ajinkya Rahane was always a stop-gap arrangement for KKR and he was always going to be released after this season. The KKR top brass had approached MI owners towards the end of last season but since Reliance's Annual AGM was round the corner, so at that time IPL trade wasn't the biggest priority.
"However, it has been learned that KKR has again approached MI top leadership and there has been a few rounds of discussion," the source informed.
(With PTI inputs)
Rishabh Pant
Kuldeep Yadav
Delhi Capitals
Lucknow Super Giants
AB de Villiers