'If we wanted Rishabh, it had to be at INR 27 crore'

The signing of Rishabh Pant was the talk of the IPL 2025 mega auction after Lucknow Super Giants secured the star India wicketkeeper-batter for a record-breaking INR 27 crore, making the 27-year-old the costliest player in the league's history.

LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka, clearly the newsmaker of the auction, shared insights into the rationale behind his aggressive pursuit for Pant and addressed the issue of whether this high stakes investment impacted the team's broader auction strategy. He spoke to Cricbuzz on the sidelines of the auction in Jeddah. Excerpts...

Rishabh Pant is now the most expensive player in the IPL history, purchased by the league's costliest franchise. It's a fitting match, isn't it?

No no, not at all. Nothing like that at all. This is not about vanity at all. Ego nahi hai[There's no ego here]. I did not have that in mind at all. We had structured the auction in a certain way and Pant was an integral part of our plans. We had done some budgeting for him. Look we could not get Bhuvneshwar Kumar and we went for Akash Deep. We wanted two Indian fast bowlers and we spent INR 9.75 crore on Avesh and INR 8 crore on Akash Deep. This was not about one individual player. It was not about egos. Did we want to have the most expensive player? No. At the end of the day this does not mean very much to the franchise. Eventually it is about performance and how the team balance looks.

The INR 6.25 crore raise you had for Pant when Delhi Capitals wanted to exercise RTM... How did you arrive at that number?

We had a sense that Delhi Capitals will try to exercise RTM. They went up to INR 26.50 crore for Shreyas Iyer and Punjab got him at INR 26.75. That was the budget they had for their No. 1 player. I felt that they will go up to INR 26.75 for Pant too. If I wanted Rishabh, it had to be INR 27 crore.

Given that it was such a high bid, how much did it impact your overall auction strategy?

It did not upset any of our plans. Our band for Rishabh was between INR 25-27 crore. We went for the maximum and I can assure you that Pant's acquisition did not have any impact on the plans of the Lucknow Super Giants. Everything went as per plan.

How can you explain such a high valuation?

It is about somebody who brings dynamism, a never-say-die attitude. The very fact that he recovered from a near fatal accident and came back to top form shows his resilience and determination. That is the kind of attitude we want. We want people who have an appetite to win and have a track record of winning. You look at our side - we have a good blend of youth and experience and we have a good blend of people who are proven match-winners. I am very happy with the way the team is shaping up.

How did you arrive at the INR 27 crore valuation for Pant?

It is a simple supply and demand situation. It is a question of what value you think you can get a player and what value a player can bring to the franchise. It is not about big valuations. Mitch Marsh at INR 3.4 crore is a steal. Most people would say he commands a price that is double of that value, say INR 7 crore. Aiden Markram at the base price is a steal too. This is all auction dynamics. You can argue either way that Venktatesh Iyer at INR 23.75 crore is a cheap or expensive acquisition.

Will Rishabh Pant now be your captain?

Bataunga, bataunga, very soon. (I'll let you know). Let the auction get over and we will tell you. Will inform you all very soon.

Any player you would have wanted and you did not get?

We went up to a particular point for Jos Buttler. We went fairly high for Bhuvi (up to INR 10.50 crore). The auction is such a place where you always don't get what you want. That is the nature of this auction. Auctions will keep happening and you have to take certain calls then and there about who will fit your requirement and combination. Because so much talent is available and so much talent is going unsold also. It is about how you get the team to work together and how you make them perform as a unit.

What about the rest of the team?

We have got Aiden Markram and Mitch Marsh to open. Aryan Juyal at No 3. If you look at our lineup, we are set for No 3 to 7. They are all fantastic hitters. Then you have a good spinner (Ravi Bishnoi), four good pacers. So we have a very balanced side. We lacked a good top-order last year and we did not have a great finisher. In the middle we were okay with Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran and Ayush Badoni. Now we have a squad that looks very good and is settled.