Former India player Aakash Chopra has wondered whether the LSG should release Rishabh Pant after his poor performances in IPL 2025. He also added that they could release and reacquire him at the auction, but stated that such a move would sour their relationship, too. Notably, LSG bought Pant for a record ₹27 crore at the IPL 2025 auction, and appointed him as their captain for the IPL 2025 but he didn’t have a great run both as a player and a captain, managing 269 runs at an average of 24.45 in 13 innings.
In his video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “What about Rishabh Pant? If you release Rishabh Pant, you will sit with ₹60-65 crore in the auction. You could be the next Punjab Kings. You will have the money to buy everyone. You can go with that thought process. You can also consider releasing Rishabh Pant at ₹27 crore and buying him back for ₹14-15 crore.”
“That is also a possibility, because, at this point in time, except for KKR, no one else is looking for a captain. They (KKR) might not go towards Rishabh Pant, although they should. You can release Rishabh and buy him back, but the only problem is that the connection is lost. The connection becomes a transactional relationship,” he further added.
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However, Aakash Chopra also added that the LSG would have enough money at the IPL 2026 auction even if they don’t release Rishabh Pant as well, but shared that they would have huge money at the purse if they leave him as well.
“The call would not be make or break because even if you release Akash Deep, David Miller, Mayank Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi, you will have so much money, plus the incremental value you get, that you will have a good auction. If you release Rishabh Pant, you will have a massive auction. Then no one will be able to outbid you, from any perspective,” he said.
“I don’t think they will let him go because you don’t get a captain that easily, although they had a very ordinary season, even from the captaincy point of view. However, eventually he made the Spidey jump and showed what he is capable of. So they might still retain him,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
