IPL 2025 Mega Auction: Faf, Rahane, Shaw go unsold; RCB get Bhuvi, Krunal
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Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) made out-of-favour India cricketer Bhuvneshwar Kumar their most expensive buy on the second day of the IPL Mega Auction in Jeddah on Monday. RCB bid Rs 10.75 crore for the pacer.
The first set of players who went up for auction were unsold, with a few of those names raising eyebrows; the likes of Glenn Phillips, Rovman Powell, Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur, Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw. Meanwhile, former RCB captain Faf du Plessis was bought by Delhi Capitals for a bargain price of Rs 2 crore.
Washington Sundar was the first player to have serious bidding on the day with Gujarat Titans edging LSG with a top bid of Rs. 3.2 crore.
Indian pacers seemed to be in demand as Deepak Chahar went for Rs 9.25 crore to Mumbai Indians, Mukesh Kumar cost Delhi Capitals Rs 8 crore and the Right To Match (RTM) option, Akash Deep was picked for Rs 8 crore by Lucknow Super Giants and Tushar Deshpande, who is recuperating from an ankle operation, was snapped by Rajasthan Royals at Rs 6.50 crore.
Big Jansen goes to Punjab
Punjab Kings managed to retain Arshdeep Singh (Rs 18 crore) on day one and they have given him company in the pace-bowling department with the addition of South African Marco Jansen at Rs 7 crore.
Meanwhile, Englishman Sam Curran, who had once attracted a Rs 18 crore bid, had fewer takers this time, with CSK bringing him back home at Rs 2.40 crore. Hardik Pandya's brother Krunal Pandya got a Rs 5.75 crore deal from RCB, while the other franchise with a 'Royal' in its name got hold of Nitish Rana at Rs 4.20 crore.
The opening day saw Lucknow Super Giants break the bank to land Rishabh Pant for a record Rs 27 crore. A total of Rs 467.95 crores were spent on 72 players on the first day.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians had the biggest purse of Rs 30.65 crore and Rs 26.10 crore respectively going into the final day of the auction. Punjab Kings had Rs 22.50 crore while Sunrisers Hyderabad had just Rs. 5.15 crore to complete the rest of their squad.