IPL25
Follow UsArshdeep Singh became the first player to be sold at the Indian Premier League (IPL) Mega Auction 2025. In fact, he was not sold, but Punjab Kings (PBKS) chose their Right to Match (RTM) card and got him for INR 18 Cr. It was Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), who had bought the left-arm pacer for INR 15.75 Cr. However, PBKS chose RTM.
His bidding started at a base price of INR 2 crore and a war began after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) raised their board first. Delhi Capitals followed. And the fight between them went on till INR 7 crore.
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Gujarat Titans (GT), the champions of the 2022 season entered the race to hire the highest wicket-taker in T20Is among all bowlers since his debut.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) briefly entered the race and bowed out while the Titans kept at it even as Rajasthan Royals came in. At INR 12.25 Cr, he was with the Titans.
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At INR 12.75 Cr, Sunrisers Hyderabad entered the race and it became a fight between Royals and Hyderabad. At INR 15.75 cr, Arshdeep was sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
In 65 IPL matches since his debut in 2019, Arhsdeep has taken 76 wickets at an average of 27 and an economy rate of 9.03.
Kagiso Rabada- Gujarat Titans- INR 10.75 Cr
The next player in the race was Kagiso Rabada, who was sold for INR 10.75 Cr to GT. The bidding for him started at INR 2 Cr, his base price and GT and RCB fought for him before Mumbai Indians (MI) entered the race at INR 5.25 Cr. However, they bowed out at INR 8.25 Cr and RCB returned to the race. Eventually, it went till INR 10.50 Cr before Titans pouched him for 10.75 Cr.
Punjab Kings had the RTM at their disposal, but they chose not to use it.
Shreyas Iyer- Punjab Kings- INR 26.75 Cr
The bidding for IPL 2024 winning captain Shreyas Iyer started at INR 2 Cr with Kolkata knight Riders starting the bidding. Punjab Kings came in and the war began between the two.
It went on till 7.75 Cr before Punjab backed out, but only to return later. However, in between these two entries, KKR fought with Delhi Capitals. These two raised the bid to INR 10.5 Cr. KKR then decided not to raise their paddle. PBKS entered the race again and took the bidding past the INR 16 Cr, which was the highest amount bidded for any Indian player in IPL history.
Jos Buttler- Gujarat Titans- INR 15.75 Cr
England captain Buttler, who was supposed to be one of the most expensive buys of the auction, came right after Iyer’s historic bid. His bidding was started by his previous side Rajasthan Royals at INR 2 Cr. GT then entered the race and the two took the price to INR 9.5 Cr. It was then that PBKS came in as RR decided not to go for their highest-run getter in IPL’s history anymore.
After fighting PBKS and LSG, GT managed to get a hold of the Englishman at INR 15.75 Cr, but not before this lapse by the auctioneer.
Mitchell Starc- Delhi Capitals- INR 11.75 Cr
Starc, playing in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 and the highest paid player in IPL’s history at INR 24.75 Cr before Shreyas Iyer, and then Rishabh Pant slammed past him, was the next player under the hammer. The bidding was started by MI at INR 2 Cr. KKR fought for him and outbid MI only to get beaten by DC. However, RCB entered the race at INR 10.5 Cr. Eventually, they did not find good enough reason to pursue the Aussie pacer beyond INR 11.5 Cr and Starc was eventually sold for INR 11.75 Cr to DC.
Rishabh Pant- Lucknow Super Giants- INR 27 Cr
Even before the auctioneer was ready to start the bidding, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) raised the paddle at Pant’s base price of INR 2 Cr. RCB entered the bidding war and the two teams had a duel till 11.25 Cr and then suddenly SRH entered the race and the price soared up to 17.75 with LSG still going for it.
The war between SRH and LSG soared Pant’s price to INR 20.75 Cr. Pant, who started his career with the Capitals in 2016, was not retained by the Delhi side this time around. They still did have the option to RTM. And they decided to use it. However, the biggest surprise was the price raise by the LSG, who took it all the way to INR 27 Cr, making it the biggest buy in the IPL history.
Only two bids ago, Iyer had been paid INR 26.75 to become the most expensive player in IPL’s history.
The mega auction is a two-day event, taking place on November 24 and 25 at the Abady Al Johar Arena in Jeedah City, Saudi Arabia. A total of 577 players are going under the hammer on Day 1. All 10 franchises combined could buy a total of 204 players.
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