Chennai Super Kings (CSK) CEO Kasi Viswanathan has finally responded to the reports of the franchise going after Rishabh Pant in the IPL 2025 mega auction, which will be held on November 24-25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Days after India won the T20 World Cup, a Dainik Jagran report stated that CSK will look to rope in Pant for the next season. More fuel was added to the speculation when Delhi Capitals named their retentions and Pant was not a part of it.
Pant along with KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer are three captains from the previous edition, who will go under the hammer during the auction. All three have registered themselves in the Rs 2 crore bracket as their base price.
So will Pant be seen wearing the yellow jersey in IPL 2025? CSK CEO during an interaction with former franchise player Ambati Rayudu on Provoke TV did not deny or accept it completely. However, he did admit that the franchise is keen on sticking with the core from the previous season rather than focusing on chasing big names with a small auction purse.
"We had discussions with Ruturaj, the captain, MS (Dhoni) and coach Stephen Fleming before we decided on the retentions. We were very clear that the players that helped the team grow, stabilise in the previous years were the ones very important for the CSK team to continue further," Kasi said.
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"It was very easy to decide on the retentions -- Gaikwad, Jaddu, MS, Shivam Dube and Matheesha Pathirana. But we knew that if we retain these players, we would have a lesser purse to go into the auction. We knew that we wouldn't be able to compete with the other teams when it comes to the best of the Indian players. I mean, we will still try, but I don't think we'll be able to get them at the auction," he added.
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