IPL 2025 Auction: Possible strategies for all 10 franchises, gaps to fill and likely targets

Less than a week remains for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction that will take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 24 and 25 November. All ten franchises announced their list of retained players on 31 October, which was the deadline to do so, and now the focus has shifted to the two-day IPL mega auction that takes place next week.

Last week, the BCCI finalised a shortlist of 574 players , pruning from the initial list of 1, 574 players . Big names like Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Mitchell Starc and Jos Buttler are set to headline the IPL 2025 auction that will see 204 players being sold.

IPL 2025 auction | Players List, Retentions, Date, Venue, Purse Size, RTM Card, and More Details

So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the possible strategies that each franchise could employ at the IPL 2025 auction:

Remaining purse: Rs 51 crore; RTM slots available: 0; Available player slots: 19 (Six overseas)

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the defending champions, have retained their team’s core players, barring Shreyas Iyer, who was released. The retentions include Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, and Ramandeep Singh, which means that KKR have no Right To Match (RTM) card slots available since they have retained all six players.

Gaps that KKR will look to fill at IPL 2025 auction:

• In Iyer, KKR have also lost a title-winning captain. The three-time champions could end up buying back a majority of the players they have released, although Shreyas Iyer looks unlikely to come back amid reported interest from Delhi Capitals (DC).

• The wicketkeeper’s slot is also something that KKR needs to fill. The likes of Jitesh Sharma, and Sameer Rizvi could also be on KKR’s radar as far as wicketkeeper-batters are concerned. KKR have released both their wicketkeeper-batters Phil Salt and Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

• The defending champions will also be keen on a backup for all-rounder Andre Russell, with Cameron Green and Daryl Mitchell among the options, although KKR could focus on Indian all-rounders.

Players that KKR could target at the IPL 2025 auction: Jitesh Sharma, Wriddhman Saha, Sameer Rizvi, Cameron Green, Daryl Mitchell.

Remaining purse: Rs 45 crore; RTM slots available: 1; Available player slots: 20 (Five overseas)

Sunrisers Hyderabad boasted a number of match-winners in IPL 2024 and the runners-up retained their most important players. Heinrich Klaasen, captain Pat Cummins, Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy are the players that SRH retained. They have one RTM slot available and could use that on either Abdul Samad or Mayank Markande.

Gaps that SRH will look to fill at IPL 2025 auction:

• Big-hitting middle-order batters could be on SRH’s auction plans, with Rovman Powell and David Miller the likely candidates. They could also buy back Aiden Markram for a cheaper price.

• Mukesh Kumar is a likely option among Indian pacers and it will be interesting to see if SRH decide to buy back Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan, who have served the franchise for quite a while.

Players that SRH could target at IPL 2025 auction: David Miller, Rovman Powell, Aiden Markram, Mukesh Kumar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan.

Remaining purse: Rs 45 crore; RTM slots available: 1; Available player slots: 20 (Eight overseas)

Despite an underwhelming IPL 2024 campaign where they finished 10th out of 10 teams, Mumbai Indians (MI) have retained some of their most prominent players, including Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav.

Gaps that MI will look to fill at IPL 2025 auction:

• MI could target spinners at the IPL 2025 auction, with Yuzvendra Chahal a possible option. However, Chahal could be in big demand among other franchises and another option would be to use the RTM card to bring back Piyush Chawla.

• To add depth to the bowling attack, Josh Hazlewood, Gerald Coetzee, and Trent Boult are valuable options.

• Quinton de Kock, who has been released by Lucknow Super Giants, emerges as an ideal wicketkeeping option. De Kock was part of the MI side that won the IPL title in 2019.

Players that MI could target at IPL 2025 auction: Yuzvendra Chahal, Piyush Chawla, Quinton de Kock, Trent Boult, Josh Hazlewood, Gerald Coetzee.

Remaining purse: Rs 55 crore; RTM slots available: 1; Available player slots: 20 (Seven overseas)

Much like other teams in the IPL, Chennai Super Kings decided to retain their core group of players, including MS Dhoni, who was retained as an uncapped player. Apart from Dhoni, skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Matheesha Pathirana, and Shivam Dube were retained.

Gaps that CSK will look to fill at IPL 2025 auction:

• CSK are likely to bring back quite a few players from the 2024 season. They could buy back Rachin Ravindra via the only RTM card available for them.

• Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman, and Deepak Chahar are among the bowlers CSK are likely to target.

Players that CSK could target at IPL 2025 auction: Rachin Ravindra, Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande.

Remaining purse: Rs 83 crore; RTM slots available: 3; Available player slots: 22 (Eight overseas)

RCB retained just three players in Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Yash Dayal ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. They will go into the auction as the team with the second-biggest purse remaining (Rs 83 crore).

Gaps that RCB will look to fill at IPL 2025 auction:

• RCB need a quality wicketkeeper and that is where Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul could come in. As far as promising overseas batters are concerned, RCB could go for players like Jake-Fraser McGurk and Will Jacks.

• RCB are also in need of bowlers, with former players Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammed Siraj likely to be targeted.

Players that RCB could target at IPL 2025 auction: Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Will Jacks, Mohammed Siraj.

Remaining purse: Rs 73 crore; RTM slots available: 2; Available player slots: 21 (Seven overseas)

Delhi Capitals retained Axar Patel, Tristan Stubbs, Kuldeep Yadav, and Abhishek Porel while letting go of skipper Rishabh Pant, a move that would have come as a surprise for quite a few.

Gaps that DC will look to fill at IPL 2025 auction:

• DC are in need of a captain who can lead from the front after parting ways with Rishabh Pant. They also need top overseas batters as well as pacers.

• Shreyas Iyer is definitely one player that DC would be keen to buy. Iyer, after all, has the experience of leading DC before and even led them to the IPL final in 2020. Jos Buttler is also another likely candidate for the captaincy.

• Among pacers, Mohammed Shami, who was released by GT, could emerge as a top pick.

Players that DC could target at IPL 2025 auction: Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Shami, Jos Buttler

Remaining purse: Rs 69 crore; RTM slots available: 1; Available player slots: 20 (Seven overseas)

Gujarat Titans retained Rashid Khan, skipper Shubman Gill, Rahul Tewatia, B Sai Sudharsan, and Shahrukh Khan.

Gaps that GT will look to fill at IPL 2025 auction:

• GT are in need of a big-hitting middle-order batter and David Miller is an obvious choice for that. If not Miller, Aiden Markram, Marcus Stoinis, or even Nitish Rana could be worthwhile choices for the middle-order batter’s slot.

• The wicketkeepers’ slot is another aspect that GT will look to build upon. Australia’s Josh Inglis and Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz are a couple of players they can look into.

Players that GT could target at IPL 2025 auction: Aiden Markram, Marcus Stoinis, Nitish Rana, Josh Inglis, Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

Remaining purse: Rs 69 crore; RTM slots available: 1; Available player slots: 20 (Seven overseas)

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) decided to part ways with some of their biggest names like KL Rahul and Marcus Stoinis while retaining Nicholas Pooran, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Ayush Badoni, and Mohsin Khan. Pooran himself was retained for Rs 21 crore and seems like a top captaincy candidate for next season.

Gaps that LSG will look to fill at IPL 2025 auction:

• LSG could target a minimum of one overseas pacer and all-rounder. Some of the possible names on LSG’s wishlist could include Glenn Maxwell and Glenn Phillips, with Roston Chase also emerging as a candidate.

• Don’t be surprised if LSG decide to buy back Naveen-ul-Haq as an overseas pacer. Kagiso Rabada is also another option.

Players that LSG could target at IPL 2025 auction: Glenn Maxwell, Glenn Phillips, Naveen-ul-Haq, Kagiso Rabada.

Remaining purse: Rs 110.50 crore; RTM slots available: 4; Available player slots: 23 (Eight overseas)

Punjab Kings retained just two players in Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh, meaning that they will head to the IPL 2025 auction with the biggest purse among all 10 teams.

Gaps that PBKS will look to fill at IPL 2025 auction:

• Punjab Kings are in need of a captain, first and foremost. Rishabh Pant could be the ideal candidate. Pant could go for big bucks and with PBKS having quite a good remaining balance in the purse, it makes sense to go for an in-demand Indian cricketer.

• Faf du Plessis, who led St Lucia Kings to their first-ever Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title this year, could also be on the radar. He is also a captaincy choice.

• Now that Ricky Ponting is PBKS head coach, the franchise could also go for someone like Steve Smith, although it remains to be seen the kind of impact the Aussie could make after a couple of years away from the tournament.

Players that PBKS could target at IPL 2025 auction: Rishabh Pant, Faf du Plessis, Steve Smith.

Remaining purse: Rs 41 crore; RTM slots available: 0; Available player slots: 19 (Seven overseas)

Rajasthan Royals head to the IPL 2025 player auction with the lowest remaining purse among all teams. The inaugural champions have retained skipper Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, and Sandeep Sharma, whereas Jos Buttler and Yuzvendra Chahal were surprise omissions.

Gaps that RR will look to fill at IPL 2025 auction:

• RR do not have any RTMs left but could still go for the likes of Chahal and Buttler again. Other batters that they could target are Devon Conway and Ajinkya Rahane, with Rahane having previously played for RR.

• Trent Boult is another choice to bolster their bowling attack. Mohammed Siraj is also an option.

Players that RR could target at IPL 2025 auction: Devon Conway, Trent Boult, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammed Siraj.