Pant Heads Back to Delhi Capitals at Lower Fee in Swap Deal for Kuldeep Yadav

Rishabh Pant is set to return to Delhi Capitals on a reduced fee of ₹15 crore, in a player swap with Lucknow Super Giants after the 2026 IPL season. He had been retained at ₹27 crore for 2026, so the move represents a pay cut.

Pant joined LSG in 2025 and captained them for two seasons, but the team missed the playoffs both times.

Kuldeep goes the other way

Wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav moves to Lucknow at his existing retention price of ₹13.50 crore. He has been with Delhi since 2022, playing 65 matches and taking 72 wickets, though 2026 was a hard year for him, with only 10 wickets in 11 innings.

Pant’s Delhi record

The deal takes Pant back to the franchise where his IPL career started in 2016. He was bought for ₹1.9 crore when the side was still called Delhi Daredevils, and went on to become one of its best-known players.

In 111 matches for Delhi he scored 3,284 runs at an average of 35.31 and a strike rate of 148.93, with one century and 15 half-centuries. He is still the franchise’s all-time leading run-scorer in the IPL.

His best year was 2018, when he made 684 runs in 14 matches at an average of 52.61 and a strike rate of 173.60, including an unbeaten 128. After inconsistent recent seasons, Pant will look to rediscover his form in familiar colours, and Delhi hope his return gives their campaign a lift.