New Delhi: Ritha Pant After confirming his return to Delhi Capitals on Tuesday, he had a simple message for the Lucknow Supergiants. The wicketkeeper-batsman retweeted LSG’s farewell post on Instagram Stories and wrote just three words: “Thank you to the team.“The news comes shortly after Pant returned to Delhi Capitals in a high-profile deal in exchange for spinner Kuldeep Yadav.Pant’s departure from LSG ended a disappointing two-year tenure. The southpaw joined Lucknow ahead of IPL 2025 for a record-breaking fee of Rs 27 crore, making him the most expensive player in the history of IPL at that time.However, things didn’t go as planned. As captain, Pant struggled to make LSG a contender and his performance with the bat also failed to live up to expectations.LSG finished seventh in IPL 2025 with 6 wins and 8 losses. The following season was even more difficult, with Pant’s side finishing bottom of the 10-team table with just four wins from 14 games.Pant scored 269 runs in 14 games in IPL 2025. In IPL 2026, he scored 312 runs and registered just a half-century.
The move means Pant will take a salary cut of Rs 12 crore and he returns to Delhi Capitals for Rs 15 crore. He will be reunited with the team he spent eight seasons with from 2016 to 2024.Pant played 111 matches for Delhi heading into the IPL 2025 Super Auction and captained Delhi from 2021 to 2024, leading the team in 43 matches.Importantly, when LSG signed Pant, owner Sanjiv Goenka described the deal as a long-term investment. But after two tough seasons, the franchise decided to part ways with the star wicketkeeper-batsman.As part of the deal, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, whose existing salary is Rs 1,350 crore, was moved to Lucknow Supergiants from Delhi Capitals.Kuldeep has been a key player for Delhi since joining them in 2022. He took 72 wickets in 65 games. However, his performance in the IPL 2026 season was not good, taking only 10 wickets in 14 games while conceding a run rate of 10.30.
