CHENNAI: The 2025 IPL auction was always going to be about new beginnings. Everyone knew as much from the moment Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul were not retained by the respective franchises. But the opening day of the spectacle happening in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, also showed why it was also going to be one of the homecomings.
Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants broke the bank for Pant and Shreyas as they went for Rs 27 and Rs 26.75 crore, respectively, becoming the two most expensive players in the history of the tournament. The other star, KL Rahul, in a surprising way, went only for Rs 14 crore to Delhi Capitals. As things stand, at least two of them are expected to lead the respective franchises but cannot be surprised if all three do.
Now, this much was known. But what also happened was how franchises were keen to get back the players who did well in the past, sometimes at a premium. Venkatesh Iyer, for example, was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 20 crore, the third highest in this ongoing auction. They also spent Rs 3 crore for Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who is earmarked as a potential superstar.
Similarly, Chennai Super Kings got back R Ashwin for Rs 9.75 crore after nine years, but also signed Rachin Ravindra (Rs 4 crore), Devon Conway (Rs 6.25 crore) and Vijay Shankar (Rs 1.2 crore). Mumbai, likewise, went big for Trent Boult (Rs 12.25 crore) and Naman Dhir (Rs 5.25 crore), both of whom have been a part of the team in past, after sitting out the first four sets in the auction. Rajasthan Royals got back Jofra Archer for Rs 12.5 crore and PBKS used RTM to get Arshdeep Singh for Rs 18 crore before signing Glenn Maxwell (Rs 4.2 crore).
KKR CEO Venky Mysore explained the rationale on his part about Venkatesh bidding. “...I think at the end of the day it’s about the player that you want and the type of player you want in your setup and prices of course have a meaning within a certain brand and so I think it surprises you all the time. When you have salary caps like this which keeps going up obviously prices will also expand,” he said, before adding, “But for us it was about trying to keep our core, we kept six players and now we brought 2-3 players back from last year.”
As for new beginnings, there were quite a few top players who found new teams for big money including Jos Butter (Rs 15.75 cr, GT), Ishan Kishan (Rs 11.25 cr, SRH), Mitchell Starc (Rs 11.75 cr, DC), Yuzvendra Chahal (`18 cr, PBKS), Noor Ahmad (Rs 10 cr, CSK), Phil Salt (Rs 11.5 cr, RCB). By and large the signings were about complimenting the core they already have while balancing out with the best players they can get.
As many as 72 players were signed and Rs 467.95 crore was spent on Sunday, but the show is not over. A lot to happen on Monday as well where teams will look to put together the final pieces of the puzzle while making up for the adjustments they had to do on Sunday.