New Delhi: With just six days to go before the Indian Premier League 2025 mega-auction, all the franchises must be busy preparing the list of potential buys in the two-day marquee event on November 24 and November 25. With several superstar players in the pool, the 2025 mega-auction is set to mark a new chapter in the most lucrative T20 league in the world.
Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis will be among the big names who are expected to attract big bids during the two-day bidding festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The big-hitting Aussie was one of the star players to be released to the auction pool on the retention deadline day. But after his brutal knock against Pakistan in the third T20I on Monday, November 18, almost all the franchises will be on alert ahead of the mega-auction.
Stoinis launched a brutal attack on Pakistan pacers and helped Australia whitewash the visitors 3-0 at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. The big-hitting Aussie smashed 61 not out off 27 balls including five sixes – three in one over off Shaheen Shah Afridi – and five fours as Australia cruised to 118-3 in 11.2 overs.
It was a brutal display of hitting by Stoinis who smashed Pakistani’s mainstream bowlers and scored 26 runs in 9 balls off Naseem Shah, 32 from 13 balls off Shaheen Afridi and 45 runs in 24 balls off Haris Rauf.
Stoinis set to be in high-demand
Ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, Stoinis was among a host of big guns released by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). He along with skipper KL Rahul, South Africa wicket-keeper batter Quinton de Kock, England pacer Mark Wood and Krunal Pandya among others.
Stoinis was bought by LSG for Rs 9.2 crore in the IPL 2022 auction and played a key role in helping the team reach playoffs in successive seasons. As LSG have retained only five players, they can use Right To Match (RTM) to buy back Stoinis.
Stoinis played 40 IPL games for LSG and scored 952 runs in 39 innings besides picking up 13 wickets. He recorded the highest individual score in an IPL run chase in the 2024 edition, scoring 124* in 63 balls against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), which will be one of many franchises to go big for the Aussie superstar.
With 366 Indians and 208 foreign players shortlisted in the list, a total of 574 players will go under the hammer in Jeddah. The ten franchises can fill only 204 slots which feature 70 foreign cricketers.
Marcus Stoinis, who was one of the star players to be released to the IPL auction pool on the retention deadline day, gave a timely reminder of his abilities with a brutal knock vs Pakistan in 3rd T20I. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
