New Delhi: Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, the three skippers released by their franchises ahead of the IPL 2025 mega-auction, will be among the 12 marquee players to kick-start proceedings at the auction, scheduled for November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Of the 12 marquee players, seven are Indian with Iyer, Pant and Arshdeep Singh among the first set of six marquee players. The second set of marquee players includes leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, star pacers Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj and former Lucknow Super Giants skipper Rahul.
The five foreign marquee players include Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc, the costliest-ever player in IPL history, England white-ball skipper Jos Buttler, England all-rounder Liam Livingstone, South Africa dasher David Miller and South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada.
For the first time in six years, the marquee list has been divided into two sets. Back in 2018, 16 marquee players were kept across the two sets while in the previous mega auction in 2022, a single set of 10 marquee players set the ball rolling.
Having retained the maximum allowance of six players each, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, won’t be allowed to use any right-to-match (RTM) cards during the auction. Meanwhile, Punjab Kings, who retained only two players on retention deadline day, will have four RTMs available to use.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru have three RTMs while Delhi Capitals have two. Five-time champions Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, two-time playoff entrants Lucknow Super Giants and 2022 champions Gujarat Titans will possess only one RTM each during the auction.
Jofra Archer, the most notable absentee
Jofra Archer, who recently returned to action following a long injury layoff, is the most notable absentee from the auction shortlist. The England pacer was bought by Mumbai Indians (MI) for Rs 8 crore (then USD 1.06 million) at the IPL 2022 auction despite undergoing elbow surgery during that period.
MI’s move to splurge the cash failed miserably as he played no games for Mumbai across two seasons before being released. In the current auction shortlist, Archer had entered with the maximum base price of Rs 2 crore.
Archer’s compatriot James Anderson, 42, has been listed as the oldest player in the auction. Meanwhile, 13-year-old Bihar batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi has become the youngest player ever to be named in the IPL auction player list.
The IPL 2025 auction will kick-off in Jeddah on November 24 from 3 pm IST onwards.
A total of 574 players will go under the hammer at the marquee event with 366 Indians and 208 foreign players featuring in the auction list. Of the 574 names, only 204 slots are available for the ten franchises to fill including 70 foreign cricketers.
IPL 2025 auction: For the first time in six years, the marquee list has been divided into two sets. Of the 12 marquee players, seven are Indian. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
