Less than three weeks since that record-breaking IPL auction, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka revealed the “science” behind his record ₹27 crore bid for Rishabh Pant. Just 20 minutes into the IPL auction 2025, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant broke all records. No other Indian cricketer had been sold for more than Yuvraj Singh’s ₹16 crore in 2015 but within minutes of the mega auction in Jeddah- Saudi Arabia, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant raked in the moolah. It was Iyer first who was snapped for a whopping ₹26. crore by Punjab Kings, making the most expensive player in the IPL history, better Mitchell Starc’s ₹24.75 core paid by KKR last year. His record, however, stood only 11 minutes as the Lucknow Super Giants spent a mindboggling ₹27 crore to get Rishabh Pant on board.
Less than three weeks since that record-breaking IPL auction, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka revealed the “science” behind his calculated bid for Pant. Goenka said he knew DC co-owner Parth Jindal “was crazy” for Pant and would go any length to bring him back so he had to place an amount that DC can’t match despite using their Right To Match option. “There was science behind going at 27 Cr for Rishabh Pant. Delhi went at 26.5 Cr for Shreyas Iyer. 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 told Ranveer Allahbadia. The science behind LSG’s ₹27 crore bid for Rishabh Pant
LSG needed a captain after they decided to let KL Rahul go. Goenka said they had kept about ₹25 to 27 crore for Pant and when the bidding stopped at ₹22 crore and DC raised the paddle to use their RTM card, Goenka knew they would have to place a bid beyond ₹26 crore as DC had gone till length for Shreyas Iyer a few minutes ago. “We knew we were going to get him, and we had kept between 25 and 27 crores for him in all our planning. So, when the bidding stopped for Rishabh at 21-22 Cr, DC did not waste even a second to use RTM for him. So that means they were willing to go to the full extent that we have to take Rishabh,” The owner of the RPSG group said. Goenka said the main reason for going all out for Pant was to get an Indian anchor on board.
“However, whatever the circumstances were, they did not retain him, or Rishabh was not willing to be retained. It is not right for me to discuss that or comment on it, but they were keen. If you look at Parth’s reaction, it is more like the deal is done. Looking at all this, we thought 27 Cr was a safe bid. Had Rishabh not come to us, LSG would have missed an Indian anchor around whom the entire team is built.”
