New Delhi: The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction is all set to get underway in Jeddah on November 24, Sunday. It is for the second consecutive time that the auction is taking place in the Middle East but in Saudi Arabia this year. A total of 574 players will be awaiting their fate in the two-day grand event that will start with the bidding of the two marquee sets of players.
It will be followed by the capped and the uncapped players and then the auction will enter the accelerated phase, covering the unsold players at last. Ahead of the auction, each of the 10 teams was granted a purse money of Rs. 120 crore and some of that has already been spent on the retained players. A maximum of 204 slots can be filled at the auction as 46 players were retained by the ten teams.
Meanwhile, some big names were released ahead of the auction, shocking the IPL fans. Star players like Rishabh Pant, Arshdeep Singh, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, and more…, were all released by their respective franchises and they will be headlining the auction, being a part of the marquee sets of players as well. The two sets comprise six players each and these Indian stars will surely trigger a bidding war between the 10 franchises.
Who are the big names in focus?
Rishabh Pant – The star Indian wicketkeeper batter will be looking for a new home for IPL 2025 as he was shockingly released by Delhi Capitals (DC). With his recent exploits in the international circuit and many teams requiring a skipper, he will be one of the top bids.
KL Rahul – Another wicket-keeper batter who seemingly had a fallout with his team Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and will be seeking a new team to get himself a fresh start. Teams can target him either as a skipper or as a batter who can solve the conundrum of the top and middle order of the batting lineup.
Shreyas Iyer – Despite leading Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to title triumph in IPL 2024, the star Indian batter was released by the franchise. He is another top player who the teams can target if looking for his IPL 2024 captaincy skills which were indeed great.
Arshdeep Singh – Being a part of Punjab Kings since 2019, the pacer has only improved for the team with the seasons passing. He is a crucial part of Team India’s T20I setup, so it was least expected of him to get released. The star pacer can surely ensue a bidding war.
Other big names
Jos Buttler – The Rajasthan Royals (RR) released player can be a worthy pick for any franchise due to his explosive batting skillset and can even captain the team.
Phil Salt – Another explosive English batter who was released by KKR and will be on the radar of all the teams.
Ishan Kishan – He was a surprise release by Mumbai Indians (MI) despite being excellent for them in the past seasons. His recent domestic heroics make him a top contender.
Jake Fraser-McGurk – It was surprising from DC when they released Fraser-McGurk, specially since he was one of their top performers in IPL 2024. Given his strong potential, he is another player to look out for.
Sam Curran – Curran’s all-round heroics are well known which makes him a potential top bid at the auction.
Liam Livingston – Livingston’s hard-hitting skills will be desperately sought, specially by the teams that need to refurbish their batting from scratch.
What to expect from IPL 2025 mega auction?
Punjab Kings – the richest at auction
Punjab Kings will go all out for their targets as they have the highest purse amount out of all the teams i.e. Rs. 110.5 crore. The team will be building its core from scratch and might go after big names like Iyer, Pant, and Rahul, potentially making one of them their captain.
Who will Delhi Capitals replace Pant with?
It will be interesting to watch who DC will go after in the auction as their skipper, having released their star player Rishabh Pant, who captained them in the 2021, 2022, and 2024 seasons.
Will it be a homecoming for KL Rahul?
Another interesting thing will be to watch out if Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will go all out for the Team India wicketkeeper-batter as the team has been linked with him for months now in the build-up to the auction.
Will Sam Curran return to CSK?
CSK will eye a quality overseas allrounder and might go for Curran who has done well for them in the past. Curran is any day a better buy for any side because of the skillset he carries, being a left-arm pace bowler and an explosive southpaw batter.
Uncapped Indians in demand
As has been the trend in the past, uncapped Indian players who can turn out to be smart buys in the future will once again be in demand at the auction. Here are some of the players who can make heads turn.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi
Gurjapneet Singh
Abdul Samad
Ashutosh Sharma
Hardik Tamore
Anshul Kamboj
Nehal Wadhera
Yash Thakur
Vaibhav Suryavanshi
IPL 2025 mega auction – Full coverage
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All you need to know
IPL auction time, venue, dates, remaining purse
Potential expensive picks
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It’s almost time for the IPL 2025 mega-auction during which several big names will be going under the hammer, triggering a bidding war between the ten franchises. Who are those players, and what more could be expected from the grand event? Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
