Rishabh Pant has become the most expensive player in the history of IPL 2025. He was bought by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for Rs 27 crore in Jeddah on the first day of the mega auction. This too became the news that broke the record of Shreyas Iyer being bought by Punjab Kings (PBKS) for Rs 26.75 crore (USD 3.18 million), just minutes before.
Apart from these two, another massive deal was given to Yuzvendra Chahal with 18 crores. To this point, he was the costliest spinner in IPL history.
Both LSG and PBKS required new captains for this season, and Pant and Shreyas can play those roles in IPL 2025. Both the players have also surpassed the record bid of Rs 24.75 crore made by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for Mitchell Starc in the IPL 2024 auction.
Pant’s crazy bid in the IPL 2025 auction
The auction for Rishabh Pant was kickstarted by LSG and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and then joined by SRH. SRH and LSG pushed the bid to Rs 20.75 crore from which SRH was eliminated. The auctioneer asked Delhi Capitals (DC) if they wanted to use their Right-to-Match to take Pant back. DC said yes. As part of new RTM auction rules, the team that won the bid was allowed to enhance the amount of their offer, which LSG did from Rs 20.75 crore to Rs 27 crore. DC did not match the amount, and Pant was sold to LSG for a record price.
LSG owner Shashvat Goenka said, “No matter how much you plan, things don’t go as planned. But, buying Pant for 27 crores was part of our planning. Not a magic number but we wanted the RTM not to apply.”
Shreyas was the third player from the first set of marquee players who entered the auction, and KKR put in a bid to buy him back. But they withdrew from the bid at Rs 10 crores. DC and PBKS started bidding for Shreyas since they both required captains. It was PBKS who came up with the biggest amount of Rs 110.5 crores, and they bought Shreyas with a bid of Rs 26.75 crores.
PBKS’ new coach Ricky Ponting said that he is excited to work with Shreyas again. He says, “I have not spoken to him yet. I tried calling him before the auction but he did not pick up his telephone. He had been a good captain in the IPL earlier too. I have been working with him for 3-4 years in Delhi, and last season he emerged as champion. If he can do the same for us, I would be happy.”
KL Rahul, the third leading Indian batsman in the marquee set, was bid for by KKR, RCB, and CSK, but was eventually bought by DC for Rs 14 crore. He can become the captain of DC. His previous franchise LSG did not exercise the RTM option on him.
Butler, Starc, and Rabada got new teams
Rajasthan Royals (RR) attempted to bid back Jos Butler but were unable to do so. After a tussle between PBKS and LSG, Gujarat Titans (GT) acquired Butler for Rs 15.75 crore. Thereby, he can become an opener with Shubman Gill besides being a wicket-keeper for the team.
GT assistant coach Parthiv Patel said, “We are very happy to have Jos Buttler in our team. He can bat anywhere, do wicketkeeping, and also help Shubman. We had planned to buy our number 1 bowler and number 1 batsman from the marquee set, and we got both.”
The auction for Starc was initiated by KKR and MI with RCB also keen on him. However, he was eventually picked up by Delhi Capitals for Rs 11.75 crore, which is much lower than his record price of Rs 24.75 crore last year.
GT came in with the third-highest amount of Rs 73 crore in the IPL 2025 auction. They also bought South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada from the first marquee set. They beat RCB and MI to include him in the team for Rs 10.75 crore. Apart from this, they bought Mohammad Siraj from the second marquee set for Rs 12.25 crore.
Chahal got a big amount
In the IPL 2022 mega auction, Chahal was bought by RR for only Rs 6.5 crore. This time GT, CSK, LSG, RCB and SRH bid for Chahal. Ultimately, PBKS beat everyone and bought Chahal for Rs 18 crore in IPL 2025, becoming the third most expensive player of the auction. Chahal’s price was equal to Arshdeep’s.
CSK, MI, KKR and RR’s slow start in IPL 2025
A total of 12 players were bought in the first two marquee sets. Of these three players each was bought by PBKS and GT while DC and LSG spent to buy two. RCB and SRH had one player each. On the other end, CSK, MI, KKR, and RR could not succeed in buying any player so far. Arshdeep emerged as the sole RTM purchase from the marquee set.
RTM Option in IPL 2025: Teams in the marquee set were allowed to opt for the RTM option to buy back their former players. However, PBKS was the only team which succeeded in doing so. At the final bid, SRH placed Rs 15.75 crore on Arshdeep. After this, PBKS had exercised the RTM option at Rs 18 crore and bought Arshdeep.
ALSO READ: Hardik Pandya Wreaked Havoc By Scoring 74* In Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
