Outlook Explains: Inside The Rumoured Pant-Kuldeep Swap — All You Need To Know

Rishabh Pant is reportedly set for a return to Delhi Capitals, the franchise where he began his Indian Premier League journey and spent nine seasons.

Ahead of the 2025 season, Lucknow Super Giants signed Pant in a record INR 27 crore deal and appointed him captain, making him the most expensive player in IPL history.

However, after two difficult seasons with LSG as both captain and player, reports suggest that relations between the two parties had become strained, with Pant stepping down as captain after the end of the recently concluded season and now indicate that the wicketkeeper-batter could be on his way back to his former franchise.

Breaking Down The Speculated Mega Trade

Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants are in the final stages of formalizing a trade deal, which will then be ratified by the BCCI. According to what have been learned so far, Pant will be traded for left-arm leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, and the deal has been finalized at INR 15 crore, which is a 44.44% salary cut for Pant from his last deal of INR 27 crore.

Kuldeep Yadav has a current contract of INR 13.75 Crore with DC, which means that they will pay an additional INR 1.25 crore to LSG, who will have INR 13.25 crore added to their purse after the trade.

What Led To Downfall In Pant's Stock?

If the reported move materializes, Rishabh Pant could become the second high-profile Indian player after Ravindra Jadeja to take a significant pay cut following a transfer. Jadeja, who was on an INR 18 crore contract with Chennai Super Kings, moved to Rajasthan Royals along with Sanju Samson in exchange for Sanju Samson.

While the Kerala batter received the full amount of INR 18 crore by CSK, Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran were valued at 14 crore and 2.4 crore respectively at RR, with the remaining amount paid in cash by the five-time champions.

Pant could also be heading down a similar route, which would not come as a major surprise considering his performances over the last two seasons. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 581 runs in 28 matches at an average of 26.40 and a strike rate of 135.74.

As captain, Pant won 10 of his 28 league matches for Lucknow Super Giants, giving him a win percentage of 35.71. The franchise also endured a difficult campaign this season, finishing at the bottom of the table with four wins from 14 matches.

Why DC Got Pant Back?

Delhi Capitals haven't been able to clinch the IPL title despite having some of the best cricketing talents and brains in their ranks. Apart from that, they haven't been able to build a massive fanbase as well in so many years, and one of the reasons for that is the lack of a personality who can be a face of their franchise.

While they have had some big names over the years, they haven't been able to retain them for such a time that they could become synonymous with the franchise's identity. While Rishabh Pant was gradually filling that void, DC had to let him go because of captaincy dynamics.

While DC wanted to remove Pant from captaincy, he wanted that position in the franchise if they wanted him to stay. But the circumstances have changed now as Rishabh Pant doesn't seek captaincy anymore, which has opened the doors back for him in DC.

Also, Rishabh Pant has a solid batting record for DC with 3,284 runs from 111 matches at an average of 35.31 and a spectacular strike rate of 149. His return to the DC set-up will solidify their middle-order and allow more freedom to the top-order.

Why Lucknow Want Kuldeep?

Kuldeep Yadav is going through a tough time in the T20I format. He was kept out of the playing XI in majority of the matches in India's successful T20I World Cup campaign and had a poor run for DC in IPL 2026 shortly after, getting only 10 wickets in 12 matches at an economy rate of over 10.

Despite his lackluster form, LSG are showing belief in his abilities, with the hope that he could come good in spin-friendly conditions of Lucknow's Ekana Stadium. Also, Kuldeep Yadav hails from Uttar Pradesh and has played domestic cricket for UP, which adds an extra layer of belongingness in the equation.