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NEW DELHI: India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant made a rather unusual public appeal in the early hours of Saturday, directly requesting Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to help him acquire land in the state so he can shift his base from Delhi and build his first home in his native state.Pant, who is currently in Sri Lanka with the Indian team for the two-match Test series, took to social media platform X to make the request, tagging Dhami in a lengthy post. The 28-year-old said he had been trying to find suitable land in Uttarakhand for the past three years but had struggled to find a property that could meet his requirements.More importantly, Pant made it clear that he wanted to return to his roots and contribute to the state after years of representing India on the international stage.“@pushkardhami hello sir how’s you ??? It’s a long time for me especially being local from Uttrakhand . I have been trying to buy land to shift my base from Delhi to Uttrakhand and I couldn’t find anything facilitating and big to live here I love my Uttrakhand. My humble request to us is please help me in land acquisition cause nowadays it had become nitemare with clarity and even other land is dew which was I supposedly get when I was promoting the state before keeping everything in side I wanna move back to my native place to help and built around Uttrakhand and I want to shif back to my Pahadi people please look into this matter it’s been 3 years didn’t get any land awaiting your answer @pushkardhami sir,” he wrote.Pant followed it up by clarifying that he was not asking for land as a free gift, but wanted to purchase it from the government at the applicable rates.“A gift would be lovey for representation out states at the highest level internationally stages but if you allow me I wanna buy it fromGovernment and on there rates at least I can have my first house built in my own state and our state please be helpful. Seriously didn’t know how to do it,” he further wrote.The posts quickly went viral, with Pant’s unusual request drawing significant attention on social media.
Pant wants to move back to his roots
Pant was born in Roorkee in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar district and began his cricketing journey there before moving to Delhi to pursue the sport professionally. He eventually established himself as one of India’s premier wicketkeeper-batters across formats.Although Pant continues to represent Delhi in domestic cricket, he has repeatedly maintained a strong connection with Uttarakhand. His latest posts underline his desire to eventually make the state his home and contribute to its development.His appeal also comes just days after Pant emerged as Uttarakhand’s highest individual taxpayer for the 2025-26 financial year, having reportedly paid Rs 23.84 crore in income tax.The figures were announced by the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Uttarakhand, during an event marking Income Tax Day on July 24. Pant topped the list of individual taxpayers in the state for the second consecutive year.According to figures reported by ABP Live, Pant’s tax contribution more than doubled from the previous financial year, when he had paid around Rs 10.5 crore in advance tax.
From Rs 27 crore IPL deal to massive endorsements
Pant’s enormous tax outgo reflects his earnings from several sources, including his BCCI contract, IPL salary, match fees and endorsement deals.He was bought by Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 27 crore, making him one of the most expensive players in the league. During the assessed period, Pant was also a Grade A BCCI-contracted cricketer, earning an annual retainership of Rs 5 crore. He has since been moved to Grade B, with his annual retainership reduced to Rs 3 crore.His commercial earnings add significantly to his income. Pant has endorsement associations with Adidas, Dream11, SG, Thums Up, Cadbury, boAt, Noise, Zomato, JSW Cement and MakeMyTrip.
