Rishabh Pant has once again returned to Delhi CapitalsImage Credit source: PTI
IPL Trading Window: The IPL 2026 season is over but the excitement for the next season has already intensified. Hardly anyone would have thought that the very first news of the next season would be so explosive. Rishabh Pant, who became the most expensive player in IPL history, was dismissed from Lucknow Super Giants and has once again returned to his old team Delhi Capitals. Lucknow and Delhi have traded Pant among themselves, under which spinner Kuldeep Yadav has reached Lucknow from Delhi. But will Pant’s fortunes turn around after returning to Delhi? Will he be able to do the same feat as his two companions have done?
The journey with LSG was not good
From his IPL debut in 2016 till 2024, Rishabh Pant was a part of Delhi Capitals. This franchise gave him worldwide recognition and then he also got the captaincy in IPL. But after IPL 2024, he suddenly left the team and Lucknow created history by buying him for Rs 27 crore in the mega auction. However, 2 seasons with Lucknow did not go well for Pant and now he has returned to Delhi Capitals for Rs 15 crore with a salary cut of Rs 12 crore.
Pant’s return to Delhi has raised a question. Will this decision prove to be decisive in changing the direction of his T20 or overall limited overs career? This question is being asked because the format which gave Pant recognition in the eyes of the world, he currently seems to be the most misfit in it. In the last two seasons for Lucknow, not only did he fail as captain, but he also did not bat. In these 2 seasons, Pant has scored only 581 runs in 26 innings, where his average was around 26 and strike rate was only around 135.
These players are example and hope for Pant
Obviously Pant needs to return and in such a situation the decision to return to Delhi is considered important. Pant also has examples of 3 such players, who reached Delhi Capitals in a bad phase of their career and made a strong comeback. The first name in this is Shikhar Dhawan, who batted consistently well for Sunrisers Hyderabad but his slow batting had started becoming a problem. He entered Delhi in 2019 and scored 521 and 618 runs in two consecutive seasons, where his strike rate was more than 135 and 144.
Same is the story of Kuldeep Yadav, who is reaching Lucknow in place of Pant. From his IPL debut till 2021, he remained a part of Kolkata for 6 consecutive years. Here in the last 3 seasons, he could play only 14 matches and got only 5 wickets. The situation was so bad that in 2021, Kolkata did not play them even a single match. Then in 2022, he entered Delhi and under the captaincy of Pant, Kuldeep made a strong comeback and took 21 wickets. Leaving aside the last season, the left arm spinner had 4 good seasons with Delhi. Overall, Kuldeep took 72 wickets in 63 innings for Delhi.
Will Pant be able to make a comeback like Rahul?
Talking about batting, the biggest example for Pant is KL Rahul, whose bat always yielded runs but he also became a victim of criticism due to his slow batting in his 3 seasons with Lucknow. Rahul, who was in LSG from 2022 to 2024, also had to listen to the rebuke of the franchise owner openly. Even in 6 consecutive seasons from IPL 2019 to 2024, Rahul could not bat at a strike rate of 140 even once. But he became a part of Delhi in the 2025 season and has done wonders in 2 consecutive seasons. Rahul scored 539 runs in IPL 2025 and 593 runs in 2026. During this period his strike rates remained above 149 and 174.
