Despite not getting Rishabh Pant or Shreyas Iyer, Delhi Capitals (DC) have managed to assemble a solid squad for the upcoming IPL. Parth Jindal, the Delhi Capitals’ co-owner and JSW Sports Director, had a candid chat with RevSportz’s Editor-in-Chief, Boria Majumdar. He opened up on the Pant saga, KL Rahul’s inclusion, getting Mitchell Starc at such a low price, the whole squad combination and a lot more.
Excerpts:
Boria: Happy with the auction? Your first thoughts?
Jindal: I am very happy with the auction. Going into the auction, there was so much speculation about what is going to happen with Delhi Capitals and who are we going to go with. I must say that it was a very disciplined show by everyone at Delhi Capitals and both the ownership groups worked well together. A lot of credit to the support staff as they did a tremendous job. The team is looking very good on paper.
Now, we need to make sure that they click. In my heart, I am very emotional and sad that I lost my favourite cricketer. After Dada (Sourav Ganguly), my favourite cricketer has been Rishabh Pant and he will continue to remain my favourite cricketer. But in my heart, I feel very sad that I lost him, but very happy with the auction.
Boria: I know Rishabh Pant and you share a great bond. Can you tell me a little bit more about that message you posted today on X on Pant?
Parth: I think we lost Rishabh the minute we did not retain him. Let us all be very honest about that. And if I did do the right to match at that price, I would have ruined the auction for Delhi Capitals. At 18 crores, Rishabh Pant is a totally different proposition. At 27 crores, he is a totally different proposition. So let me not fool myself or fool anybody. We lost Rishabh when we could not retain him.
Boria: Had it been single ownership, would you have retained Rishabh Pant?
Parth: No, I do not think it is about ownership here. I think we were very aligned as an ownership group. It was a collective decision that was taken. We had a lot of discussions with Rishabh. There were things that we expected of Rishabh that we did not get last season or in the previous seasons, and we gave him honest feedback on that.
We both – GMR, JSW – we are one family. We are one, we are united and it was a decision we took. We gave him feedback. Feedback was not taken as we expected it to be taken. He took an emotional call. He has also grown up in this franchise and he was a young boy when he started.
EXCLUSIVE 🚨@ParthJindal11 🗣️ “I’m gonna give him the love and respect that he deserves and hope he thrives in our atmosphere” – on @klrahul joining the @DelhiCapitals.
The #DelhiCapitals owner spoke about their auction strategies, including who their targets were and how they… pic.twitter.com/vxCedXJQW9
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) November 27, 2024
Delhi Daredevils gave him his first opportunity and Kiran gave him his first opportunity. And I obviously came into the franchise later and developed a very strong bond with him. But what transpired is something that I do not want to get into because it was a very protracted, long discussion we had. At the end, Rishabh himself decided that I do not want to stay. We made all efforts. Both Kiran and I made all efforts to keep him. But he decided that he wanted to go in a different direction, which we respected.
At that time, I also respected it. I said, Rishabh, it is okay, I would not go for you in the auction. But then my heart wanted him back in the auction and I tried getting him back. Kiran also was like, it is OK. We will make up later. Both of us will make up with him after the auction. If we get him, we will figure it out. So, we tried, but then the price became too high. So, it was nothing to do with ownership. It was a joint decision that we took.
Boria: Tell me about Mitchell Starc.
Parth: We had done a lot of planning going into the auction. We had kept a budget for fast bowlers and we had names in mind. We felt that if any fast bowler comes within our budget, we have to take them. Because of the way Mitchell Starc’s name came in the auction, given that it came out so early, given that other teams just paid big money on Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer et cetera…
We got Starc and we are very happy. He is a serial winner, champion cricketer, and great human being. He is someone who can lead the lineup in the Delhi Capitals. We got him much lower than what we thought he would go at and now, we are going to base our fast bowling around him.
Boria: The big question – captaincy?
Parth: It is a bit premature. We have to give the coaching group a fair opportunity to assess who they want. So once the squad assemble, they will assess and make the decision.
For the Latest Sports News: Click Here
Boria: Thoughts on the KL Rahul buy?
Parth: KL is an exceptional cricketer. His consistency in every IPL season has been phenomenal. Kotla is a ground which we thought will suit KL’s batting and if there are two grounds where probably KL wants to go as his home ground, they would be RCB or DC. Both Chinnaswamy or Kotla will suit his game in terms of them being small grounds. There has been a lot of chatter about KL on strike-rate and all those things.
I believe a class player is always a class player. When we were discussing our auction strategy, the first lot was Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer. Obviously, we thought that if we can get one of those players, one of them being the Indian marquee batter, then we will not have the budget for KL. But we lost both and went to the auction knowing that we might lose both because Punjab, LSG or RCB had more money than us. Then, who is the next-best batter? KL Rahul was right up there.
I believe that KL is a quality player and getting him at that price opened up the budget for us to strengthen other areas. I know KL personally for a long time and he is a good friend of mine. He thrives with love and respect and I am going to give him the love and respect he deserves. I hope he thrives in our atmosphere and does it for Delhi, wins an IPL.
Boria: What was the talk during the Shreyas Iyer bidding war?
Parth: It was a clear decision by Delhi and the ownership group that we want to go after one among Shreyas or Rishabh. That was definitely plan A that we must get either Shreyas or Rishabh, come what may. But there was a budget that allowed us to make a good squad or team. Obviously, we exceeded the limit during that bid but always in the IPL auction dynamics, this thing happens.
I am very happy for Shreyas that he got that type of recognition and got reunited with our former coach, Ricky Ponting. For me, it was Ricky’s decision as he has worked with him already in the past. I think if we had landed him at that price, DC would not been able to build a good squad.
Boria: This time around, seeing your squad, it seems that all bases are covered.
Parth: Last year, the team that started and the team that ended were two very different teams. The team that ended, especially the way they played that season’s last five matches, we wanted that team to continue. Explosiveness at the top with McGurk and Abhishek Porel, KL now coming in and adding that stability at No. 3. Maybe a new role for Axar, batting up the order, and having very good finishers in Tristan Stubbs and Harry Brook.
Ashutosh Sharma was an absolute revelation last year. Then having a very good bowling attack in Kuldeep, Starc, Natarajan, Mukesh, Mohit. Sameer Rizvi and Karun Nair as backup batters as well. Faf du Plessis, a legend of the IPL, and very excited with the leg-spinners we have. Overall, the team is solid and strong. We have taken players in the team who are likely to suit Kotla as well. I am really excited about this team.
Boria: What will be the role for the both ownership groups? Can I see Sourav Ganguly in the dugout?
Parth: There is a complete harmony between two groups. We are one big family. You can see us the way we were hugging each other, having a laugh at the auction table. Both very large corporates, different styles, but we are together. I will be as passionate as ever, jumping around, backing the boys, and cheering for them.
Dada will always be available to the team, and we are always available. Even today, we had a long chat. It is just a different way of running. I know what you or others have said how can it work. But we will make sure to show how it can work, and make us better and stringer as a team.
Boria: For me, it will be the closest IPL, seeing all teams’ squads. Your thoughts?
Parth: On paper, it is going to be a blockbuster IPL. The degree of maturity has gone up in IPL in terms of the way scouting happens, players get identified. For example, the way bidding went for Priyansh Arya means everyone knew about him. Every team knew about Vaibhav Suryavanshi or the Afghanistan mystery spinner, Allah Ghazanfar. It is going to be a very closely contested IPL and everyone has built their team for their home ground.
The beauty of the IPL is the mega auction. This is where the playing field levels and this is where everyone is on the same level. It is your intellect and strategy that need to come on the table on that particular day. I just hope for the benefit of the IPL and the Indian cricket that the mega auction continues forever and ever, because that truly differentiates IPL from any other leagues in the world.
Also Read: “We lost Rishabh the day we failed to retain him.” – Delhi Capitals’ Parth Jindal on Rishabh Pant