Rishabh Pant has left the Delhi Capitals, but his strong bond with former franchise teammates remains intact

Pant joined Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL Auction for a record-breaking bid of INR 27 crore.

Rishabh Pant may have left Delhi Capitals and joined Lucknow Super Giants for a record-breaking bid of INR 27 crore in the IPL Auction, but his strong bond with former franchise teammates remains intact, as clearly demonstrated during the toss on Monday.

After shifting his bases from Delhi to Lucknow, Pant had to face his former team in Visakhapatnam in his first match of IPL 2025.

After parting ways with Pant, Delhi named Axar Patel their new skipper, who shared a good bond with the star India wicketkeeper both on and off the field.

At the toss on Monday, Axar flipped the coin, but had to guess it wrong as Delhi Capitals' new captain opted to bowl first. However, Pant had a small wish to tease Axar with.

"I want to bat first!" chirped Pant, glancing at his former teammate and new captain.

The two captains' friendship and banter were also acknowledged by former India spinner Murali Karthik, who was present at the toss.

"Rishabh and Axar have a great friendship. It's nice to see them egging each other on, even during the game," Karthik said.

Meanwhile, Axar talked about playing against Pant, under whom he played last season at Delhi and said they both know each other's tricks.

"I have played with Pant before, he knows me and I know him. We know our tricks," Axar said at the toss.

Also Read: Axar Patel Reveals What Rishabh Pant Told Him During Toss

Pant also admitted that it is going to be an emotional game for him as it will be the first time when he will be playing in the IPL not wearing Delhi's colours.

"I have played for DC all my life, so a lot of emotions there. Preparations have been well, everyone is in the right shape and in the right frame of mind," Pant said.

The Capitals went ahead with Faf du Plessis, Tristan Stubbs, Mitchell Starc and Jake Fraser-McGurk as their four overseas options while they miss the services of their star batter KL Rahul, who returned to Mumbai for the birth of his first child.