IPL 2025 Mega Auction: A Comprehensive Recap
The IPL 2025 Mega Auction of the Indian Premier League was an event that reverberated with lots of things such as outbursts of high-intensity bidding, suspenseful surprises, and strategic team-building. The city of Jeddah became the place that would open this new chapter, bringing together all the new talent into a season along with legends returning for a grand finale show. All of the 10 franchises comprising the Indian Premier League (IPL) now spent Rs 639.15 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction that brought 182 players across a two-day sale, including 62 foreign players, in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah. Still, Rishabh Pant is by far the most expensive, going for Rs 27 crore from Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Shreyas Iyer follows closely, with a deal of Rs 26.75 crore with Punjab Kings, who also bought Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh for Rs 18 crore each (the latter through the right-to-match option). KKR paid Rs 23.75 crore for Venkatesh Iyer at the auction, confirming his position as one of the top all-rounders. To know everything about the auction positions, read on.
Star Players Commanding Top Bids
Fierce competition characterized the auction as franchises battled for established players and those really starting to shine. Here’s how some of the high names fared:
Rishabh Pant (Lucknow Super Giants): After recovering from injury, Pant is moved to Lucknow Super Giants, the most significant and expensive player in 2025 mega auction within a bid of ₹27 crores. He is impossible to do without because of his captaincy and batting prowess.
KL Rahul (Delhi Capitals): Delhi Capitals has paid out a whopping ₹14 crore for Rahul. The opener still continues to anchor the top order and offer strategic depth as an opener in the DC setup.
Shreyas Iyer (Punjab Kings): Well, Iyer got Punjab Kings to bid ₹26.75 crore because they needed to rely on stability in the middle order and leadership to enhance their campaign.
Yuzvendra Chahal (Punjab Kings): Bought for ₹18 crore, the veteran spinner, known for his ability to change games with the strike he creates, is part of Punjab Bowling’s invaluable asset.
Arshdeep Singh (Punjab Kings): The young Indian pacer has taken once again by Punjab Kings, with the franchise spending ₹18 crore to secure his services for the upcoming seasons.
Heinrich Klaasen (Sunrise Hyderabad): One of the expensive retentions, with Sunrisers spending 23 crores on explosive batsmen and wicketkeeper, which will beef up their batting unit.
Top Auction Buys
This year’s auction also saw record-breaking bids for all-rounders & bowlers:
Venkatesh Iyer: The Kolkata Knight Riders splurged 23.75 crore on the Indian all-rounder, making him the most expensive all-rounder of the auction.
Trent Boult: Mumbai Indians secured the New Zealand star for ₹12.5 crore.
Josh Hazlewood: Royal Challengers Bangalore invested ₹12.5 crore to secure Hazlewood, aiming to strengthen their bowling attack with his contributions.
Noor Ahmad: Chennai Super Kings invested ₹10 crore to acquire Ahmed, emphasizing his thrilling contributions in bowling attack.
Jofra Archer: Rajasthan Royals acquired a skilled bowler for ₹12.50 crore.
Mitchell Starc: Delhi Capitals spent ₹11.75 crore to bring Starc on board, intending to bolster their bowling attack.
Team Spending Highlights
Teams displayed varied strategies at the auction:
Punjab Kings: With major investments in Shreyash Iyer and Arshdeep Singh, they spent heavily to enhance their squad balance.
Mumbai Indians: Their ₹17.5 crore acquisition of Green dominated headlines, complemented by tactical picks like Will Jacks.
Rajasthan Royals: Most players retention and the purchase of Jofra Archer for ₹12.5 crore highlighted their focus on experienced players.
Lucknow Super Giants: Retaining Nicholas Pooran and securing Rishabh Pant for ₹27 crore marked their expensive bid and aggressive approach.
Delhi Capitals: With KL Rahul’s new journey onboarding, they focused on retaining their core team structure.
Key Trends in the Auction
All-Rounders Lead the Charts: Players like Livingstone, Stoinis dominated, highlighting the emphasis on versatility.
Reinforcing Spin Departments: Teams like Punjab with Chahal and Chennai Super Kings with Ravichandaran Ashwin prioritized impactful spinners.
Domestic Talent on the Rise: Indian players such as Arshdeep Singh and uncapped bowlers and batsmen saw significant interest, signalling a strong domestic pipeline.
Mumbai Indians
No. of players 23/25 (8 overseas)
Hot take: While MI’s contingent of Indian players is strong, their overseas picks were rather unconventional. Apart from Trent Boult and Mitchell Santner, the other six are untested or haven’t been regular starters in the IPL. England allrounder Will Jacks and fast bowler Reece Topley, South African quick Lizaad Williams and Afghanistan spinner Allah Ghazanfar are pretty inexperienced in the league, while New Zealand’s Bevan-John Jacobs and South Africa’s Ryan Rickelton haven’t played in the IPL before.
Possible first 12 (including impact player): 1. Rohit Sharma, 2. Ryan Rickelton (wk), 3. Tilak Varma, 4. Suryakumar Yadav, 5. Will Jacks, 6. Hardik Pandya (capt), 7. Naman Dhir/Robin Minz, 8. Deepak Chahar, 9. Allah Ghazanfar/Mitchell Santner, 10. Karn Sharma, 11. Jasprit Bumrah, 12. Trent Boult
SQUAD
Batters: Suryakumar Yadav (retained), Rohit Sharma (retained), Tilak Varma (retained), Bevan-John Jacobs
Wicketkeepers: Robin Minz, Ryan Rickelton, Krishnan Shrijith
Allrounders: Hardik Pandya (pace; retained), Naman Dhir (spin; RTM), Will Jacks (spin), Raj Angad Bawa (pace), Vignesh Puthur (spin)
Spinners: Allah Ghazanfar, Karn Sharma, Mitchell Santner
Fast bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah (retained), Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, Satyanarayana Raju, Arjun Tendulkar, Lizaad Williams
Chennai Super Kings
No. of players 25/25 (7 overseas)
Hot take: CSK bought back R Ashwin ten seasons after he last played for them in 2015, reuniting him with Ravindra Jadeja. They further strengthened their spin attack with the addition of Noor Ahmad, and otherwise stacked their squad with allrounders and fast bowlers.They’ve also bought a fair number of players whose IPL careers are in need of a revival: Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Deepak Hooda and Shreyas Gopal.
Best 12 (including impact player): 1. Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 2. Devon Conway/Rachin Ravindra, 3. Rahul Tripathi, 4. Shivam Dube, 5. Sam Curran, 6. Vijay Shankar, 7. Ravindra Jadeja, 8. MS Dhoni (wk), 9. R Ashwin, 10. Noor Ahmad/Nathan Ellis, 11. Khaleel Ahmed/Gurjapneet Singh, 12. Matheesha Pathirana
SQUAD
Batters: Ruturaj Gaikwad (retained), Rahul Tripathi, Shaik Rasheed, Deepak Hooda, Andre Siddarth
Wicketkeepers: Devon Conway, MS Dhoni (retained), Vansh Bedi
Allrounders: Ravindra Jadeja (spin; retained), Shivam Dube (pace; retained), R Ashwin (spin), Sam Curran (pace), Rachin Ravindra (spin; RTM), Vijay Shankar (pace), Anshul Kamboj (pace), Jamie Overton (pace), Ramakrishna Ghosh (pace)
Spinners: Noor Ahmad, Shreyas Gopal
Fast bowlers: Matheesha Pathirana (retained), Khaleel Ahmed, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Mukesh Choudhary, Gurjapneet Singh, Nathan Ellis
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
No. of players 22/25 (8 overseas)
Hot take: RCB bought the explosive Phil Salt to partner Virat Kohli at the top of the order, and also spent a lot of money to acquire two experienced quicks in Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to try and solve their long-standing bowling problem. They have batting reinforcements in the top and middle order and, for the first time in a long time, their line-up doesn’t seem reliant on a few star players.
Best 12 (including impact player): 1. Virat Kohli, 2. Phil Salt, 3. Liam Livingstone, 4. Rajat Patidar, 5. Krunal Pandya, 6. Jitesh Sharma (wk) 7. Tim David/Jacob Bethell, 8. Rasikh Salam, 9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10. Josh Hazlewood, 11. Yash Dayal, 12. Suyash Sharma/Swapnil Singh
SQUAD
Batters: Virat Kohli (retained), Rajat Patidar (retained), Tim David, Manoj Bhandage, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chikara
Wicketkeepers: Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma
Allrounders: Liam Livingstone (spin), Krunal Pandya (spin), Swapnil Singh (spin), Romario Shepherd (pace), Jacob Bethell (spin), Mohit Rathee (spin)
Spinners: Suyash Sharma, Abhinandan Singh
Fast bowlers: Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal (retained), Rasikh Salam, Nuwan Thushara, Lungi Ngidi
Sunrisers Hyderabad
No. of players 20/25 (7 overseas)
Hot take: SRH have an explosive top five and a first-choice bowling attack with plenty of pedigree, but the link between those two parts of their line-up is likely to be a bit inexperienced. Also, their back-up overseas players – Kamindu Mendis, Brydon Carse and Eshan Malinga – have never played the IPL before.
Best 12 (including impact player): 1. Travis Head, 2. Abhishek Sharma, 3. Ishan Kishan (wk), 4. Nitish Reddy, 5. Heinrich Klaasen, 6. Aniket Verma, 7. Abhinav Manohar, 8. Pat Cummins, 9. Harshal Patel, 10. Rahul Chahar, 11. Mohammed Shami, 12. Adam Zampa
SQUAD
Batters: Travis Head (retained), Abhinav Manohar, Aniket Verma, Sachin Baby
Wicketkeepers: Heinrich Klaasen (retained), Ishan Kishan, Atharva Taide
Allrounders: Abhishek Sharma (spin; retained), Nitish Kumar Reddy (pace; retained), Kamindu Mendis (spin)
Spinners: Adam Zampa, Rahul Chahar, Zeeshan Ansari
Fast bowlers: Mohammed Shami, Pat Cummins (retained), Harshal Patel, Simarjeet Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, Brydon Carse, Eshan Malinga
Kolkata Knight Riders
No. of players 21/25 (8 overseas)
Hot take: KKR retained six players from their title-winning squad in IPL 2024. and bought back six more. They tried to buy back several others as well but couldn’t, having splurged INR 23.75 carore for Venkatesh Iyer, who could be their new captain. They replaced Salt and Starc with Quinton de Kock and Anrich Nortje/Spencer Johnson, which may not seem like an upgrade.Their bids for Manish Pandey and Ajinkya Rahane were a bit of a surprise, with their batting styles at odds with KKR’s crash-bang-wallop methods last season.
Best 12 (including impact player): 1. Sunil Narine, 2. Quinton de Kock/Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3. Angkrish Raghuvanshi/Ajinkya Rahane, 4. Venkatesh Iyer, 5. Rinku Singh, 6. Andre Russell, 7. Ramandeep Singh, 8. Harshit Rana, 9. Varun Chakravarthy, 10. Vaibhav Arora, 11. Anrich Nortje/Spencer Johnson, 12. Manish Pandey
SQUAD
Batters: Rinku Singh (retained), Rovman Powell, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia, Ajinkya Rahane
Wicketkeepers: Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Allrounders: Venkatesh Iyer (pace), Andre Russell (pace; retained), Sunil Narine (spin; retained), Ramandeep Singh (pace; retained), Anukul Roy (spin), Moeen Ali (spin)
Spinners: Varun Chakravarthy (retained), Mayank Markande
Fast bowlers: Harshit Rana (retained), Vaibhav Arora, Anrich Nortje, Spencer Johnson, Umran Malik
Punjab Kings
No. of players 25/25 (8 overseas)
Hot take: PBKS spent INR 26.75. crore to buy Shreyas Iyer, who is likely to be their new captain. The influence of their new coach Ricky Ponting was evident in five of their eight overseas players being Australian. Their starting XII will look dramatically different with only Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh and Harpreet Brar likely to feature prominently from last season.
Best 12 (including impact player): 1. Josh Inglis (wk), 2. Prabhsimran Singh, 3. Marcus Stoinis, 4. Shreyas Iyer, 5. Glenn Maxwell, 6. Nehal Wadhera, 7. Shashank Singh, 8. Marco Jansen, 9. Harpreet Brar, 10. Yash Thakur/Kuldeep Sen/Vijaykumar Vyshak, 11. Arshdeep Singh, 12. Yuzvendra Chahal
SQUAD
Batters: Shreyas Iyer, Shashank Singh (retained), Nehal Wadhera, Harnoor Singh Pannu, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash
Wicketkeepers: Josh Inglis, Vishnu Vinod, Prabhsimran Singh (retained)
Allrounders: Glenn Maxwell (spin), Marcus Stoinis (pace), Marco Jansen (pace), Harpreet Brar (spin), Azmatullah Omarzai (pace), Aaron Hardie (pace), Musheer Khan (spin), Suryansh Shedge (pace)
Spinners: Yuzvendra Chahal, Pravin Dubey
Fast bowlers: Arshdeep Singh (RTM), Lockie Ferguson, Yash Thakur, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Kuldeep Sen, Xavier Bartlett
Lucknow Super Giants
No. of players 24/25 (6 overseas)
Hot take: LSG made history by making Rishabh Pant the most expensive player ever sold at an IPL auction (INR 2.7 crore) and will likely name him their captain. While they could boast an enviable top six (see below) they didn’t manage to pick up an established Indian opener. Their squad has a wealth of Indian bowling options – pace and spin – so expect them to load their batting line-up with overseas experience.
Best 12 (including impact player): 1. Mitchell Marsh, 2. Aiden Markram, 3. Rishabh Pant (wk), 4. Nicholas Pooran, 5. Ayush Badoni, 6. David Miller, 7. Shahbaz Ahmed, 8. Abdul Samad, 9. Ravi Bishnoi, 10. Avesh Khan, 11. Mohsin Khan, 12. Mayank Yadav
SQUAD
Batters: Aiden Markram, David Miller, Ayush Badoni (retained), Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke
Wicketkeepers: Rishabh Pant, Nicholas Pooran (retained), Aryan Juyal
Allrounders: Adbul Samad (spin), Mitchell Marsh (pace), Shahbaz Ahmed (spin), Yuvraj Chaudhary (spin), Rajvardhan Hangargekar (pace), Arshin Kulkarni (Pace)
Spinners: Ravi Bishnoi (retained), M Siddharth, Digvesh Singh
Fast bowlers: Mayank Yadav (retained), Mohsin Khan (retained), Akash Deep, Avesh Khan, Akash Singh, Shamar Joseph, Prince Yadav
Delhi Capitals
No. of players 23/25 (7 overseas)
Hot take: Who will lead DC this season – Axar Patel, or their new signing KL Rahul? With Rahul likely to slot in at the top of the order, there are dashers around him and all the way down the DC line-up. Their fast bowling was a concern last season but it looks far more potent this year.
Best 12 (including impact player): 1. Jake Fraser-McGurk, 2. KL Rahul, 3. Abishek Porel (wk), 4. Harry Brook, 5. Tristan Stubbs, 6. Axar Patel, 7. Ashutosh Sharma, 8. Sameer Rizvi, 9. Kuldeep Yadav, 10. Mitchell Starc, 11. T Natarajan, 12. Mukesh Kumar
SQUAD
Batters: Jake Fraser-McGurk (RTM), Harry Brook, Tristan Stubbs (retained), Faf du Plessis, Karun Nair
Wicketkeepers: KL Rahul, Abishek Porel (retained), Donovan Ferreria
Allrounders: Axar Patel (spin; retained), Ashutosh Sharma (spin), Sameer Rizvi (spin), Darshan Nalkande (pace), Vipraj Nigam (spin), Ajay Mandal (spin), Manvanth Kumar (pace), Tripurana Vijay (spin), Madhav Tiwari (pace)
Spinners: Kuldeep Yadav (retained)
Fast bowlers: Mitchell Starc, Mukesh Kumar, T Natarajan, Mohit Sharma, Dushmantha Chameera
Rajsthan Royals
No. of players 20/25 (6 overseas)
Hot take: After retaining five batters and only one bowler, RR went shopping for many bowlers and picked up quality in Jofra Archer, Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana, though Archer and Hasaranga have been rather injury prone. Their two overseas back-up players are rather low key – Kwena Maphaka and Fazalhaq Farooqi – so IPL 2025 could prove to be a test of their Indian bench strength.
Best 12 (including impact player): 1. Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2. Sanju Samson (capt, wk), 3. Nitish Rana, 4. Riyan Parag, 5. Dhruv Jurel, 6. Shimron Hetmyer, 7. Wanindu Hasaranga, 8. Shubham Dubey/Akash Madhwal, 9. Jofra Archer, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11. Sandeep Sharma, 12. Tushar Deshpande
SQUAD
Batters: Yashasvi Jaiswal (retained), Shimron Hetmyer (retained), Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi
Wicketkeepers: Sanju Samson (retained), Dhruv Jurel (retained), Kunal Singh Rathore
Allrounders: Riyan Parag (spin; retained), Nitish Rana (spin), Yudhvir Singh (pace)
Spinners: Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Kumar Kartikeya
Fast bowlers: Jofra Archer, Sandeep Sharma (retained), Tushar Deshpande, Akash Madhwal, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kwena Maphaka, Ashok Sharma
Gujrat Titans
No. of players 25/25 (7 overseas)
Hot take: GT did well to pick up three out of 12 marquee players – Jos Buttler, Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada – and adding Prasidh Krishna to their attack was a coup as well. It’s crucial these players remain fit, though, because their Indian fast-bowling back-up is thin. Their middle order doesn’t have a star cast but GT will hope Washington Sundar will shrug off his indifferent IPL form and have an impactful season with bat and ball.
Best 12 (including impact player): 1. Jos Buttler (wk), 2. Shubman Gill (capt), 3. Sai Sudharsan, 4. Washington Sundar, 5. Sherfane Rutherford/Glenn Phillips, 6. Rahul Tewatia, 7. M Shahrukh Khan, 8. Rashid Khan, 9. Arshad Khan/Sai Kishore/Mahipal Lomror, 10. Kagiso Rabada, 11. Mohammed Siraj, 12. Prasidh Krishna
SQUAD
Batters: Shubman Gill (retained), Sai Sudharsan (retained), Rahul Tewatia (retained), Sherfane Rutherford
Wicketkeepers: Jos Buttler, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat
Allrounders: Rashid Khan (spin; retained), Washington Sundar (spin), M Shahrukh Khan (spin; retained), Mahipal Lomror (spin), Nishant Sindhu (spin), Arshad Khan (pace), Jayant Yadav (spin), Glenn Phillips (spin), Karim Janat (pace)
Spinners: Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore
Fast bowlers: Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gerald Coetzee, Gurnoor Brar, Ishant Sharma, Kulwant Khejroliya
Final Thoughts
The IPL 2025 auction has redefined team dynamics, ensuring a thrilling season ahead. With seasoned players like Pant, Chahal, and Rahul ready to make their mark and young talent stepping into the limelight, the tournament promises an electrifying mix of experience and exuberance.
