IPL Mega Auction 2025: LSG bag Pant for record Rs 27 cr; Punjab secure Iyer for Rs 26.75 cr
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The IPL mega auction 2025 with the availability of 577 players going under the hammer is underway in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Within minutes of a record Rs 26.75 crore bid from Punjab Kings for Shreyas Iyer in the first round of marquee player auction, Rishabh Pant broke the IPL record again. Lucknow Super Giants secured the prized asset for a massive Rs 27 crore.
Devdutt Padikkal became the first player to go unsold. Veteran Australian David Warner went unsold at his base price of Rs 2 crore. English wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow also went unsold at Rs. 2 crore. Aiden Markram was the first marquee player to be taken for his base price (Rs 2 crore). LSG won the opening bid for the South African.
The much-awaited bidding war for Pant began with the Lucknow Supergiants and RCB going aggressive. Surprisingly, RCB pulled out shortly after the price went past Rs 10 crore. But LSG went further after Sunrisers Hyderabad upped the game with a Rs 20-cr bid. Delhi Capitals used their 'RTM' card after LSG bid for Rs 20.75 crore, but they pulled out after seeing the final bid. But LSG got Aussie all-rounder Mitchell Marsh cheap for Rs Rs 3.40 crore. After taking home India's finest left-hand prospect (Pant), LSG bagged South African leftie David Miller for Rs 7.50 crore.
Earlier, Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals got aggressive for 'captain material' Iyer as he became the first player on the day to breach the Rs 20 crore-mark.
Punjab matched the IPL auction record of Rs 24.75 crore KKR shelled out for Aussie pacer Mitchell Starc ahead of IPL 2024. But the Delhi franchise had no choice but to create history with a Rs 25 crore bid. The battle still went on and it was Punjab who bagged the talented Iyer for a record price of Rs 26.75 crore. The biggest bidding war post lunch at the auction happened for Venkatesh Iyer with KKR and RCB trying to outbid each other. RCB almost went all the way, but KKR won the bid at Rs 23.75 crore. The Knight Riders also secured Quinton de Kock for Rs 3.60 cr.
Sunrisers Hyderabad successfully bid for India pacer Mohammad Shami at Rs 10 crore. The Hyderabad side will have Harshal Patel bowling for them after winning a bid for Rs 8 crore, which Punjab Kings chose not to waste their RTM card on. The Sunrisers also claimed Ishan Kishan for Rs 11.25 crore.
All-rounder Liam Livingstone became Royal Challengers Bengaluru's first pick from the auction. They spent Rs 8.75 crore for the Englishman. After missing out on Rahul, RCB got English wicketkeeper batter Phil Salt for Rs. 11.50 crore.
Chennai Super Kings made New Zealander Devon Conway their first pick at Rs 6.25 crore. CSK also got Rahul Tripathi for Rs. 3.40 crore. The biggest surprise was CSK getting the in-form New Zealand all-round Rachin Ravindra for a bargain price of Rs 4 crore using their RTM card. Ravichandran Ashwin will also return to CSK, who won a successful bid at Rs 9.75 crore.
Delhi Capitals will have an Aussie pace spearhead next season as they managed to win the services of Mitchell Starc for Rs 11.75 crore. K L Rahul was expected to join Iyer and Pant in the Rs 20-crore-club, but bidding for the wicketkeeper batter ended at Rs 14 crore with Delhi Capitals securing his services. Capitals also won a successful bid of Rs 6.25 crore for Englishman Harry Brook. Delhi Capitals used their RTM card to retain Jake Fraser-McGurk after Punjab Kings raised their final bid to Rs 9 crore.
Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh was the first player to go under the hammer. Punjab Kings took back the India international using their 'Right To Match' card for Rs 18 crore after a thrilling opening bid involving six franchises, with Sunrisers Hyderabad going almost all the way till the end. With a hefty purse at their disposal, Punjab Kings were determined to go after leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and they claimed his services at Rs 18 crore. Exciting Aussie all-rounder Marcus Stoinis was also secured by the Kings for Rs 11 crore. Another Aussie, the incredible Glenn Maxwell has returned to Punjab for Rs 4.2 crore.
Gujarat Titans secured the services of swashbuckling Englishman Jos Buttler for Rs 15.75 crore. Rajasthan Royals, who chose to let him go, were out of the bidding race at Rs 10 crore. Earlier the Titans successfully bid for South African pacer Kagiso Rabada for Rs 10.75 crore. Punjab Kings, who let go the right-arm pacer, chose not to use the RTM card. Gujarat also added Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj to their ranks with a bid of Rs 12.25 crore.
Total players and purse
The ten franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will have 367 Indians and 210 overseas players available to pick from.
The total purse available for the franchises is 641.5 crore, with 204 slots open. Punjab Kings have the most to spend (Rs 110.5 crore) after they chose to go soft in the IPL player retention. Rajasthan Royals have the lowest purse of Rs 41 crore as they chose to exhaust all six of their retentions, with skipper Sanju Samson leading the pack.
Franchises will also want to use their 'Right To Match' (RTM) cards wisely should any of the players they let go in the retentions come up for bidding.
The first set of marquee players (Rs 2 crore base price) includes Jos Buttler, Rishabh Pant, Arshdeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Shreyas Iyer and Kagiso Rabada.
The set 2 (Rs 2 crore base price) will feature Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammad Shami, Liam Livingstone, K L Rahul, Mohammed Siraj and David Miller (Rs 1.5 cr).