Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has predicted that Rishabh Pant should be sold for a whopping amount of INR 50 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction. Pant was released by Delhi Capitals recently as the franchise decided to retain Axar Patel, Tristan Stubbs, Abishek Porel, and Kuldeep Yadav.
Meanwhile, Pant has been in terrific form and top-scored in the three-Test match series against New Zealand with 261 runs at an average of 43.50. Pant returned with scores of 60 and 64 in the Mumbai Test, which India lost by 25 runs.
The left-hander is known to turn the match on its head with his blistering batting and has scored 3284 runs in 111 IPL matches at an average of 35.31 and a strike rate of 148.93.
Basit Ali said on his YouTube Channel, “Rishabh Pant scored 60 in the first innings and 64 in the second. What can I say about this kid? People say he should go for ₹25 crore in the IPL auction. However, I think he should be sold for ₹50 crore. When he batted on this pitch, it seemed like a flat track. He hit wherever he wanted to but his shot selection was good.”
On the other hand, Ravichandran Ashwin was dismissed after scoring eight runs while attempting a reverse sweep in the second innings when he was stitching a crucial stand with Washington Sundar but got a faint glove to the keeper. Ali said that such a shot was not expected from an experienced player like Ashwin.
“The shot that Ashwin played was not expected from a senior player who has played 100 Tests. You tried to hit a reverse sweep when a partnership was needed.”
India suffered an ignominious series loss against the Kiwis as they were totally outplayed by the opposition in all three Test matches.
The Rohit Sharma-led team will now need to win by 4-0 against Australia to qualify for the World Test Championship final.
