Rishabh Pant Back in Delhi’s Spotlight: IPL Star Enters DPL Auction… Will Franchises Break the Bank for Him?

Delhi’s cricket ecosystem is gearing up for one of its most anticipated nights of the season as the Delhi Premier League (DPL) returns with its third player auction—this time bigger, sharper, and packed with star power.

At the heart of the excitement is India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, whose presence alone is expected to set the tone for intense bidding among franchises. Pant, who recently made headlines after moving from Lucknow Super Giants back to Delhi Capitals, now finds himself at the center of yet another cricketing shake-up—this time at the domestic franchise level.

Alongside him, women’s cricket star Pratika Rawal leads a strong lineup, ensuring that both the men’s and women’s competitions carry equal weight in this season’s auction drama.

600 players, one auction table, countless possibilities

The numbers alone reflect the scale of the event. A total of 600 players—400 men and 200 women—will go under the hammer, as eight men’s franchises and four women’s teams prepare to build their squads from scratch.

Before the auction even begins, teams have already locked in 65 men’s players and 28 women’s players through retentions, leaving the rest of the talent pool open for aggressive bidding wars.

Each men’s franchise enters the auction with a purse of ₹1.5 crore, while women’s teams have ₹75 lakh to assemble competitive squads. However, with retained players already deducted from these amounts, strategic spending becomes just as important as talent scouting.

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How the auction is structured

To bring clarity and balance to the process, players have been divided into four distinct categories:

• Marquee Category: India internationals, India A players, and IPL/WPL squad members from the last three seasons
• Category A: Domestic senior players representing Delhi in major tournaments like the Ranji Trophy
• Category B: U-23, U-19, and junior-level Delhi representatives
• Category C: DDCA league performers and registered domestic players

This structure ensures that emerging talent gets a fair platform alongside established names.

Price brackets and fierce competition expected

Base prices reflect experience levels:

• 
  Marquee players: ₹10 lakh (men), ₹5 lakh (women)
• Category A: ₹5 lakh (men), ₹3 lakh (women)
• Category B: ₹3 lakh (men), ₹1.5 lakh (women)
• Category C: ₹1 lakh (men), ₹75,000 (women)

With limited purse sizes and high-value players available, franchises are expected to enter strategic bidding battles rather than emotional splurges.

Big names set to attract attention

Apart from Pant, the marquee men’s list includes experienced and promising names like Ishant Sharma, Mayank Yadav, Navdeep Saini, and Anuj Rawat, among others.

On the women’s side, the marquee pool features talents like Priya Punia, Priya Mishra, and Simran Dil Bahadur, adding depth and competitive balance to the auction.

RTM twist adds more drama

To make things even more tactical, each franchise will also have one Right to Match (RTM) card. This allows teams to retain a player by matching the highest bid placed by a rival franchise—potentially turning the final moments of bidding into high-pressure decision-making scenarios.

A league growing beyond expectations

What was once a relatively quiet domestic initiative has now evolved into a serious talent pipeline for Indian cricket. The DPL is increasingly becoming a bridge between domestic cricket and the larger professional ecosystem, including the IPL and WPL structures.

With star power like Pant involved and a deep pool of emerging talent waiting in the wings, this year’s auction is expected to be one of the most competitive yet.

For Delhi cricket fans, it is no longer just an auction—it is a glimpse into the future of their cricketing identity.