Rishabh Pant returns to DC in fresh trade with Kuldeep Yadav: Social media gets divided, ‘Delhi will never win IPL’

Rishabh Pant has officially returned to the Delhi Capitals in a high-profile player swap. The IPL Governing Council formally confirmed the trade involving Lucknow Super Giants.

Pant returns to his original franchise in exchange for left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav. Kuldeep moves to LSG at his existing contract value of ₹13.50 crore.

Sangita Jindal, the DC owner, welcomed the wicketkeeper-batter on social media.

“Welcome back, Rishabh Pant. It was never quite the same without you in blue. Delhi Capitals feels whole again — excited for what this next chapter holds, for you and for us,” she wrote.

Social media reacted to the Twitter (now X) post, which has garnered more than 2.34 lakh views so far. The reactions have been mixed.

“You spoke for every Delhi fan, ma’am,” wrote a DC fan.

“Trying to fix something which was never broken. Delhi will never win an IPL trophy,” commented one user.

One user wrote, “Always loved Rishabh Pant to see in Delhi!”

“Delhi Capitals has three choices to make for the captain: Rahul, Pant & Axar. But, the main problem is that they couldn't handle the pressure of the captaincy. It will be a headache for them to choose the correct candidate,” posted another user.

One user blamed it on the co-owners’ disagreements: “Rishab Pant always belonged to Delhi. It was a shame that you let him go in the first place, all thanks to (Kiran Kumar) Grandhi. If it were in Parth's (Jindal) hands, Rishab would be leading DC now.”

“He is good for nothing. In place of him, pls invest in raw talent, create talent like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi,” recommended one user.

“Dumb think tank, dumbest trade. Trading a top-class spinner, match-winner, for nostalgia and for social media views. DC is not a serious franchise. Even after scoring truckloads of runs, if owners live in nostalgia, then committed players like KL deserve a better team, home,” blasted another user.

To facilitate the homecoming, Rishabh Pant has voluntarily accepted a significant pay cut. LSG acquired him for a record-breaking ₹27 crore at the IPL 2025 auction. He will now play for Delhi Capitals at a revised fee of ₹15 crore. Pant returns purely as a player, with no immediate captaincy responsibilities.

The move follows two turbulent seasons at Lucknow, where he stepped down as captain. Lucknow finished bottom of the table in IPL 2026. Pant previously scored 3,284 runs in 111 matches across 9 seasons with Delhi.

Clash With LSG?

Persistent speculation about a rift between Rishabh Pant and LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka has been there. Pant's eventual exit from the franchise fanned the fire.

The rumours originated from animated boundary-line conversations during IPL 2026. Goenka was seen having long, intense discussions with Pant after difficult defeats.

Fans and media quickly drew comparisons to Goenka's widely-criticised public outburst at former LSG captain KL Rahul in 2024. A social media narrative rapidly spread, suggesting Pant was being publicly scolded. Eventually, both Rahul and Pant moved to DC.

Goenka strongly denied any such conflict in an NDTV interview. He described the rumours as fabricated. He blamed it on his naturally-expressive communication style. LSG management also released backroom footage showing Goenka and Pant interacting in a light-hearted mood.