However, the biggest hurdle for the trade was Rishabh Pant’s massive Rs 27 crore salary, which was too high for Delhi to fit into their budget. But in order to make the move happen, Pant agreed to a major pay cut. Pant’s new fee will be around INR 15 crore, which is just a bit over half of what he was making before.
Cricbuzz has reported that DC will trade chinaman Kuldeep Yadav to LSG as part of the deal to bring back Rishabh Pant who played 111 matches for Delhi from 2016 to 2024 and captained the North Indian franchise in 43 matches.
While Pant will see more than 10 crores being cut on his trade deal with DC, Kuldeep Yadav will keep his current salary of Rs 13.25 crore when he joins Lucknow.
Delhi will be managed by the JSW group over the next two IPL seasons and due to Parth Jindal’s admiration for Pant, the franchise has taken a major step forward to bring him back. DC finished 6th in the IPL 2026 points table, missing out on the play-offs for the 4th time in a row.
Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has also been appointed as the batting coach for Delhi whereas Sourav Ganguly will return to the franchise as the Director of Cricket.
