The IPL 2025 auctions began on November 24 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. All 10 franchises were in a serious bidding war. At the IPL 2025, 72 players were sold and the teams spent a record 467.95 crore rupees all-time.
Record-Breaking Purchases
Lucknow Super Giants made the big news of the day, selling Rishabh Pant to be the most expensive player sold in the history of the Indian Premier League at Rs 27 crore. Pant was followed closely by Shreyas Iyer, who was acquired by Punjab Kings for Rs 26.75 crore in one of the top bids of the day.
He made a tough battle between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore as he returned to KKR for Rs. 23.75 crore.
Overseas Stars Shine
Among overseas players, Jos Buttler emerged the costliest overseas buy at Rs. 15.75 crore in Rajasthan Royals. KL Rahul, another big time name, shifted to Delhi Capitals for Rs. 14 crore. Other players who enjoyed considerable advancement in their valuations include the auction also.
Unsold Big Names.
However, the day was not without a few surprises. The two biggest names in international cricket - David Warner and Jonny Bairstow were unsold. This was a surprise twist to what many would describe as a highly competitive auction.
Rising Stars and Uncapped Players
The uncapped players also saw headlines through some very substantial deals. While Jitesh Sharma was among the bigger gainer, his transfer from Punjab Kings to Royal Challengers Bangalore fetched him Rs. 11 crore for a huge improvement over his earlier price-tag of just Rs. 20 lakh.
And Noor Ahmad was not far behind; he fetched Rs. 10 cr for Chennai Super Kings after selling out for a minuscule Rs. 30 lakh last year. A spurt in the value of the rest of the uncapped players was also evident- Rasikh Dar was sold to RCB for Rs. 6 cr and Naman Dhir to Mumbai Indians for Rs. 5.25 cr.
Right-to-Match Players
They utilized their RTM to the fullest for some players as well. For example, Arshdeep Singh opted to remain in Punjab Kings at Rs 18 crores. Meanwhile, Rachin Ravindra agreed with Chennai Super Kings by paying Rs 4 crores. Delhi Capitals managed to bag Jake Fraser-McGurk for Rs 9 crores. Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians could manage to get back Naman Dhir for Rs 5.25 crores.
Player of the Best Unsold Ones as on Day 1
Some big-name players did find new homes, while others were left without a single bid. These include the experienced Warner and Bairstow, as well as an aging spinner in Piyush Chawla and one promising young talent Yash Dhull, who ended Day 1 with no bidders.
Day 1 Summary
There were multiple slots gone empty with the end of the auction. It literally happened one of those days where Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore came out to be the team with maximum number of vacant slots. Heres a brief glance at the number of slots remaining for each team after day 1.
Mumbai Indians: 16 (7 overseas)
Chennai Super Kings: 13 (4 overseas)
Rajasthan Royals: 14 (4 overseas)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 12 (4 overseas)
Kolkata Knight Riders: 12 (3 overseas)
Delhi Capitals: 12 (4 overseas)
Punjab Kings: 13 (6 overseas)
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 16 (5 overseas)
Gujarat Titans: 11 (5 overseas)
Lucknow Super Giants: 13 (4 overseas)
It appears that the day two of auctions will finish ahead, because teams will look to finish up their squads with big players for the IPL season of 2025.