The mega auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 wrapped up on 25th November in Jeddah. The purse of each team was increased to 120 crore this year and it helped the franchises to pick a well-balanced squad. A lot of smart calls were made during the auction and a total of 577 players went under the hammer.
There were some surprise purchases as well while we saw all the previous records were broken this season. Let’s take a look at the top-10 most expensive players in IPL auction 2024.
1. Rishabh Pant | Rs 27 crore
The star Indian wicket-keeper broke all the previous records and became the most expensive player in the history of IPL. The left-handed batter left Delhi Capitals and all the teams were interested in buying him. However, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) won the bidding war and bought Pant for a massive INR 27 crore. He is also likely to lead the side in the IPL 2025 season.
2. Shreyas Iyer | Rs 26.75 crore
The star Indian batter Shreyas Iyer gained popularity with his batting and leadership skills for his previous two sides, Delhi Capitals (DC) and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He led both the teams into the final of the tournament. Thus, he was a go-to choice for many franchises in the auction. Punjab Kings purchased him for INR 26.75 crores.
He has become the 2nd most expensive player not just this season but in the history of the league. He might also lead the side in this season.
3. Venkatesh Iyer | Rs 23.75 crore
Kolkata Knight Riders have shown great belief in Venkatesh Iyer as they have bought him for a whopping amount of 23.75 crores. He is the kind of player who can give a lot of fire power to the late order and can also bat in the middle and top order. So, such a three dimensional player is an asset for any side and that is why Royal Challengers Bangalore went down the wire in the bidding war but Kolkata was not ready to leave him.
4. Arshdeep Singh | Rs 18 crore
Arshdeep Singh has been an integral part of the Indian cricket team in the last couple of years. He played a key role in helping India win the 2024 T20 World Cup. The left-arm was surprisingly not retained by Punjab Kings (PBKS). However, Punjab Kings chose to exercise their Right to Match (RTM) card to get Arshdeep Singh back for a whopping INR 18 crore. Interestingly, the PBKS management could have retained the pacer as their first-pick for the same amount before the auction itself.
5. Yuzvendra Chahal | Rs 18 crore
Yuzvendra Chahal has been the wizard for Rajasthan Royals (RR) and he had high demand in the mega auction of this season. The leg-spinner was picked by Punjab Kings for RS 18 crore. He has an excellent record in T20 cricket due to his ability of picking wickets at any stage of the game. Yuzvendra Chahal is also the leading wicket-taker in the history of Indian Premier league. He will prove to be a great pick for the Punjab Kings.
Hence, these were the five most expensive players of the mage auction or IPL 2025. Interestingly all of these five players are from India which is a very rare incident. A lot of other names have also been picked at good prices while there are also some big names that went unsold this season.
However, what do you think? Which player of these five were you expecting to be in the top 5 of the auction table.