 "The opening day of the IPL 2025 auction witnessed the record for the most expensive purchase in the history of the league shattered twice in a span of an hour. Image credit: BCCI")
The opening day of the mega auction for the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) witnessed franchises splurge money on players like never before. The 20-crore barrier had been breached for the first time in last year’s mini-auction in Dubai – the first time the auction had taken place outside India.
As It Happened | Day 1 of IPL 2025 Auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Just one year later, three more players would enter the 20-crore club with two of them not only smashing the previous record for the most expensive purchase of all time, but nearly entering the 30-crore club in the process.
Shreyas Iyer was widely expected to fetch one of the top three bids in the auction, if not the most expensive after captaining Kolkata Knight Riders to their third IPL title earlier this year. The Mumbaikar ended up going to Punjab Kings, one of the franchises in need of a captain ahead of the auction, for a whopping Rs 26.75 crore – Rs 2 crore more than what his former team had paid to secure Australian pacer Mitchell Starc.
Also Read | IPL 2025 Auction: most expensive buys on Day 1 in Jeddah
Less than an hour later, Rishabh Pant would surpass his India and former Delhi Capitals teammate by a mere Rs 25 lakh as Lucknow Super Giants quoted a final bid of Rs 27 crore from Rs 20.75 crore while the Capitals were considering using their RTM card on the talismanic wicketkeeper-batter or not.
DC would later buy KL Rahul, released by Pant’s current franchise on Retention Deadline, for Rs 14 crore as three franchises managed to zero in on their captains by the time each of the 12 ‘Marquee’ players had gone under the hammer.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThere were some other franchises that made a number of smart buys, with 2022 champions Gujarat Titans standing out in this regard – acquiring top stars such as Jos Buttler, Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj without spending an extraordinary amount on them.
Also Read | Full list of sold and unsold players from Day 1 of the event in Jeddah
Five-time champions Mumbai Indians made the least purchases but managed to reunite Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya with Trent Boult – making a solid addition to their pace arsenal in the process.
Among the highlights of the day, however, was senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin returning to Chennai Super Kings – the franchise from where he began his IPL journey in the inaugural edition in 2008, where he will be reunited with MS Dhoni and long-time spin-partner Ravindra Jadeja.
Here’s a team-wise summary of the money spent, players bought along with the purse and slots left:
Chennai Super Kings purchased players : Devon Conway (Rs 6.25 crore), Rahul Tripathi (Rs 3.40 crore), Rachin Ravindra (RTM - Rs 4 crore), Ravichandran Ashwin (Rs 9.75 crore ), Khaleel Ahmed (Rs 4.8 crore), Noor Ahmad (Rs 10 crore), Vijay Shankar (Rs 1.2 crore).
Total money spent: Rs 39.4 crore; Purse remaining: Rs 15.6 crore; Slots remaining: 13 (4 overseas)
Delhi Capitals purchased players : KL Rahul (Rs 14 crore), Mitchell Starc (Rs 11.75 crore), T Natarajan (Rs 10.75 crore), Jake Fraser-McGurk (RTM – Rs 9 crore), Harry Brook (Rs 6.25 crore), Ashutosh Sharma (Rs 3.8 crore), Mohit Sharma (Rs 2.2 crore), Sameer Rizvi (Rs 95 lakh), Karun Nair (Rs 50 lakh)
Total money spent: Rs 59.2 crore; Purse remaining: Rs 13.8 crore; Slots remaining: 12 (4 overseas)
Gujarat Titans purchased players : Jos Buttler (Rs 15.75 crore), Mohammed Siraj (Rs 12.25 crore), Kagiso Rabada (Rs 10.75 crore), Prasidh Krishna (Rs 9.50 crore), Nishant Sindhu (Rs 30 lakh), Mahipal Lomror (Rs 1.70 crore), Kumar Kushagra (Rs 65 lakh), Anuj Rawat (Rs 30 lakh), Manav Suthar (Rs 30 lakh).
Total money spent: Rs 51.5 crore; Purse remaining: Rs 17.5 crore; Slots remaining: 11 (5 overseas)
Kolkata Knight Riders players bought : Venkatesh Iyer (Rs 23.75 crore), Quinton de Kock (Rs 3.60 crore), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Rs 2 crore), Anrich Nortje (Rs 6.50 crore), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (Rs 3 crore), Vaibhav Arora (Rs 1.80 crore), Mayank Markande (Rs 30 lakh)
Total money spent: Rs 40.95 crore; Purse remaining: Rs 10.05 crore; Slots remaining: 12 (3 overseas)
Lucknow Super Giants players bought : Rishabh Pant (Rs 27 crore), David Miller (Rs 7.5 crore), Aiden Markram (Rs 2 crore), Mitchell Marsh (Rs 3.4 crore), Avesh Khan (Rs 9.75 crore), Abdul Samad (Rs 4.20 crore), Aryan Juyal (Rs 30 lakh)
Total money spent: Rs 54.15 crore; Purse remaining: Rs 14.85 crore; Slots remaining: 13 (4 overseas)
Mumbai Indians players bought : Trent Boult (Rs 12.50 crore), Robin Minz Rs 65 lakh), Naman Dhir (RTM – Rs 5.25 crore), Karn Sharma (Rs 50 lakh)
Total money spent: Rs 18.9 crore; Purse remaining: Rs 26.1 crore; Slots remaining: 16 (7 overseas)
Punjab Kings players bought : Shreyas Iyer (Rs 26.75 crore), Arshdeep Singh (RTM - Rs 18 crore), Yuzvendra Chahal (Rs 18 crore), Marcus Stoinis (Rs 11 crore), Glenn Maxwell (Rs 4.20 crore), Nehal Wadhera (Rs 4.20 crore), Harpreet Brar (Rs 1.50 crore), Vishnu Vinod (Rs 95 lakh), Vijaykumar Vyshak (Rs 1.80 crore), Yash Thakur (Rs 1.60 crore).
Total money spent: Rs 88 crore; Purse remaining: Rs 22.5 crore; Slots remaining: 13 (6 overseas)
Rajasthan Royals players bought : Jofra Archer (Rs 12.50 crore), Maheesh Theekshana (Rs 4.40 crore), Wanindu Hasaranga (Rs 5.25 crore), Kumar Kartikeya (Rs 30 lakh), Akash Madhwal (Rs 1.20 crore)
Total money spent: Rs 23.65 crore; Purse remaining: Rs 17.35 crore; Slots remaining: 13 (4 overseas)
Royal Challengers Bengaluru players bought : Liam Livingstone (Rs 8.75 crore), Phil Salt (Rs 11.50 crore), Jitesh Sharma (Rs 11 crore), Josh Hazlewood (Rs 12.50 crore), Rasikh Dar Salam (Rs 6 crore), Suyash Sharma (Rs 2.60 crore).
Total money spent: Rs 52.35 crore; Purse remaining: Rs 30.65 crore; Slots remaining: 16 (5 overseas)
Sunrisers Hyderabad players bought : Mohammed Shami (Rs 10 crore), Harshal Patel (Rs 8 crore), Ishan Kishan (Rs 11.25 crore), Rahul Chahar (Rs 3.2 crore), Adam Zampa (Rs 2.4 crore), Atharva Taide (Rs 30 lakh), Abhinav Manohar (Rs 3.2 crore), Simarjeet Singh (Rs 1.5 crore).
Total money spent: Rs 39.85 crore; Purse remaining: Rs 5.15 crore; Slots remaining: 12 (4 overseas)