After two disappointing seasons, Rishabh Pant received a huge salary cut of Rs 12 crore as the captain of the Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav were traded off in a high-profile deal that was finalized on Tuesday.
For Rs 15 crore, Pant rejoins the Capitals. In the massive auction held before to IPL 2025, the LSG bought his services for an astounding Rs 27 crore, the biggest amount in the league’s history.
Interestingly, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka had previously stated that the contract with Pant would be long-term. However, only after two disappointing seasons did the LSG owners decide to release the flamboyant keeper-batter, with the tacit support of Australian heavy coaching staff (Justin Langer and Tom Moody).
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav moved from the Capitals to LSG at his current salary of Rs 13.50 crore in an anticipated trade-off.
Pant, who played 111 games for the team between 2016 and 2024 before departing to participate in the auction, will now get back in touch with them. Additionally, he led them in 43 games as their captain from 2021 to 2024.
But both as a wicketkeeper hitter and in the leadership position, his time with the LSG was well below average. With six victories and eight losses, the Super Giants finished seventh on the IPL 2025 standings; IPL 2026 turned out to be even worse.
With just eight points from four victories and ten defeats, the Pant-led team finished last in the ten-team league. The left-hander scored just 269 runs in 14 games as a batter in 2025; this season, he scored 312 runs with just one fifty.
Since joining DC for IPL 2022 from KKR, Kuldeep has taken 72 wickets in 65 games. He also had a mediocre IPL 2026 run. In 14 games, the spinner was only able to claim 10 wickets while giving up runs at a rate of 10.30 per over.
