Last Updated:
Indian players dominated the Day 1 of IPL 2025 mega auction in Jeddah and as many as three players earned deals worth more than Rs 20 crore.
Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and Venkatesh Iyer secured deals worth Rs 27 crore, Rs 26.75 crore, and Rs 23.75 crore on Day 1 of the IPL 2025 mega auction. (Picture Credit: Sportzpics)
A total of 84 players went under the hammer on Sunday (November 24) during Day 1 of the IPL 2025 mega auction, which is taking place in Jeddah. Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant created history by becoming the most expensive player in IPL history. The 27-year-old left-handed batter was signed for Rs 27 crore by Lucknow Super Giants. He broke Shreyas Iyer’s record, who was signed for Rs 26.75 crore Punjab Kings a few moments before him. Both the former Delhi Capitals stars were part of marquee players Set 1, and Iyer’s name was picked ahead of Pant.
Apart from Pant and Iyer, who now hold the record of being the two most expensive players in the cash-rich league’s history, Madhya Pradesh all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer also secured a big deal. He was signed by his IPL 2024 side Kolkata Knight Riders again for Rs 23.75 crore after an intense bidding war with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Punjab Kings, which entered the IPL 2025 mega auction with a purse of Rs 110.50 crore, also signed Indian left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for Rs 18 crore each.
The top five picks of the IPL 2025 mega auction on Day 1 were all Indians. It may be a surprise for many fans to see Indian players getting big deals ahead of the overseas stars in the auction, but in reality, it shouldn’t be.
The reason is because in the past as well, whenever a mega auction took place, Indian players dominated the charts. The overseas stars have earned big pay cheques in the mini auction, but in mega auctions, when franchises have to rebuild their teams, they have always preferred spending big bucks on Indian players.
In the last mega auction, which took place ahead of the 2022 season, the top-three highest-paid players were Indians. Ishan Kishan was signed for Rs 15.25 crore by the Mumbai Indians, and the Chennai Super Kings paid Rs 14 crore for Deepak Chahar. The third most expensive player in the IPL 2022 mega auction was Shreyas Iyer, who joined Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 12.25 crore.
In the 2018 mega auction, England all-rounder Ben Stokes sealed a deal worth Rs 12.50 crore from the Rajasthan Royals, but the next three top-paid players were all Indians. Pacer Jaydev Unadkat was signed for Rs 11.50 crore by the Rajasthan Royals, and Manish Pandey and KL Rahul joined SRH and Punjab Kings, respectively, for Rs 11 crore each.
In the 2014 mega auction, Yuvraj Singh was the highest-paid player. He was signed for Rs 14 crore by Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and the Delhi Capitals splashed Rs 12.50 crore for Dinesh Karthik, to make him the second most expensive player that year.
In the first ever IPL auction, which took place in 2008, MS Dhoni was the highest-paid player. He was signed for Rs 6 crore by the Chennai Super Kings, and he lived up to the billing by leading CSK to five titles.
In the 2011 mega auction, Gautam Gambhir topped the chart by joining Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 11.04 crore. He was followed by Yusuf Pathan (Rs 9.66 crore to KKR), Robin Uthappa (Rs 9.66 crore to Pune Warriors India), Rohit Sharma (Rs 9.2 crore to MI), and Irfan Pathan (Rs 8.74 crore to Punjab Kings).
One of the main reasons for overseas players getting big bucks in the mini auction is that not many big Indian players are up for grabs in the mini auction, whereas it’s not the case with overseas players. The majority of them make themselves available for a season or two, and that’s why they get big deals.
