IPL 2025 Auction: From Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer to Josh Hazlewood, most expensive buys on Day 1 in Jeddah

Day 1 of the IPL 2025 Auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia witnessed records being shattered one after another with Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer becoming the most expensive players in the history of the cash-rich league. Pant and Iyer were expected to fetch the highest bids heading into the fifth mega auction in IPL history, the former one of the biggest names in Indian cricket at the moment and the latter having led Kolkata Knight Riders to their third title earlier this year.

Both Shreyas and Pant were included in Set 1 of the ‘Marquee’ players list – which got the auction underway at the Abady Al Johar Arena on Sunday. Shreyas was the third player to go under the hammer after Arshdeep Singh and Kagiso Rabada went to Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans respectively, the former getting retained via ‘Right To Match’ for Rs 18 crore.

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An intense bidding war would then take place to secure the title-winning captain from the previous season, with a handful of teams in search of a new captain. KKR had placed the initial bid for the 29-year-old Mumbaikar, but quickly bowed out as PBKS and Delhi Capitals took centre-stage.

PBKS simply wouldn’t let go of Iyer and eventually secured him for Rs 26.75 crore – breaking the record previously held by Australian  pacer Mitchell Starc , who had been acquired by KKR for s 24.75 crore last year in Dubai.

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Starc had attracted the humongous amount shortly after fellow Australian pacer Pat Cummins became the first player to breach the 20-crore salary mark in the history of the league, with the latter’s reign as the IPL’s most expensive player of all time ending on the same day.

Something similar happened on Monday when Rishabh Pant broke Shreyas' record by a mere Rs 25 lakh less than an hour after the latter surpassed KKR’s successful bid for Starc by Rs 2 crore. Lucknow Super Giants had made the first move for Pant and were quickly followed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Later, Sunrisers Hyderabad would back out after taking his price past the 20-crore mark.

Pant’s former franchise Delhi Capitals were asked if they intended to exercise their RTM card, which they denied after LSG set a final bidding amount of Rs 27 crore to secure the star wicketkeeper-batter, setting a new record in the process.

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Here are 10 of the most expensive players from Day 1 of the IPL 2025 mega auction in Jeddah:

Rishabh Pant – Rs 27 crore (Lucknow Super Giants)

Shreyas Iyer – Rs 26.75 crore (Punjab Kings)

Venkatesh Iyer – Rs 23.75 crore (Kolkata Knight Riders)

Arshdeep Singh – Rs 18 crore (Punjab Kings)

Yuzvendra Chahal – Rs 18 crore (Punjab Kings)

Jos Buttler – Rs 15.75 crore (Gujarat Titans

KL Rahul – Rs 14 crore (Delhi Capitals)

Trent Boult – Rs 12.5 crore (Mumbai Indians)

Jofra Archer – Rs 12.5 crore (Rajasthan Royals)

Josh Hazlewood – Rs 12.5 crore (Royal Challengers Bengaluru)