Sanjiv Goenka, owner of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), recently spilled the beans on the record ₹27 crore bid for Rishabh Pant. During a podcast with YouTuber Ranveer Allahabadia, Goenka explained that there was a science behind it.
Indian batsman-wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in the history of IPL when he secured a deal with LSG for a whopping ₹27 crore. Pant outdid the likes of Mitchell Starc (₹24.75 crore) and Pat Cummins (₹20.5 crore).
Goenka added that the Parth Jindal-led Delhi Capitals bid ₹26.5 crore for Shreyas Iyer, prompting LSG to up the ante when bidding for Pant. He also mentioned that he knew Jindal would move mountains to get Pant back using the Right to Match (RTM) option.
"So, then my feeling was, ‘Parth Jindal is so crazy for Rishabh Pant, he would go one up at the IPL Auction.’ So, the idea was to go two up from Parth, or even three up, and that is where he would stop. For Rishabh, we had calculated three scenarios, and in all of them, he was very important to us," Goenka said.
But what prompted Sanjiv Goenka to spend so much on getting Pant? Ever since parting ways with KL Rahul, the IPL franchise was in search of a new captain. The LSG owner mentioned that a budget of ₹25-27 crore was earmarked specifically for getting Pant during the IPL mega auction.
He also explained that Delhi Capitals used the RTM, showing that they were willing to take Rishabh Pant. Goenka, however, avoided any comment on why DC couldn't retain Pant or vice-versa.
"When he stopped bidding in the range of ₹21-22 crore and Delhi didn't take even a second for RTM, so that means they were willing to go the full extent to take Rishabh. However, whatever the circumstances were, they did not retain Rishabh or he did not get retained, it is not right for me to discuss that or comment on it."
He also revealed that many experts suggested him to buy Yuzvendra Chahal or Jos Buttler but not Pant as they said he is set to join some other franchise.
Furthermore, he mentioned that had Pant not been a part of LSG's strategy, then it would have been difficult to built the team despite getting international players with strong calibre.
He said that it was important to get Pant on LSG's side because he wanted to create an Indian anchor.