The first day of the mega auction of IPL 2025 was in the names of Indian players. On the very first day, the record of the most expensive player in IPL history was broken twice. Shreyas Iyer was bought by Punjab Kings for Rs 26 crore 75 lakh. There was a competition between Delhi Capitals and Punjab for Iyer for a long time but in the end Punjab won. Iyer had broken the record of Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who was bought by KKR for Rs 24 crore 75 lakh in the last auction.
Only a few minutes had passed since Iyer broke the record when Rishabh Pant’s name was called in the auction. Even before the auction, it was expected that there would be a fierce battle between many teams for Pant, which proved to be correct in the auction. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) first showed interest in buying Pant. After some time, when RCB pulled out, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) made its entry. During this, there was a fierce competition between the two teams for Pant.
SRH and LSG collided
Within a short time, SRH and LSG teams took the bid to Rs 20.75 crore. Here SRH backed out and then Delhi Capitals (DC) tried to buy Pant through Right-to-Match (RTM) but LSG increased the bid amount from Rs 20.75 crore to Rs 27 crore. In this way Pant shattered Shreyas Iyer’s record in just a few minutes. After Pant, Venkatesh Iyer also joined Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 23 crore 75 lakh.
Pant broke all records
Within a few hours of the start of the auction, more than Rs 20 crore had come into the pockets of three players. From this it can be guessed why the Indian League is called cash rich league. Although IPL cannot be compared with any other league, but on the first day of the mega auction, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer were the three players who were successful in collecting more money than the prize money of IPL. Yes, the prize money of IPL 2024 is Rs 20 crore. Last time when Kolkata Knight Riders won the title, they got Rs 20 crore as prize money.
PSL left miles behind
Not only this, the trio of Pant, Iyer and Venkatesh won many times more than the prize money of Pakistan Super League. More than 4 times the prize money of PSL 2024 went into Rishabh Pant’s bag. Let us tell you, Islamabad United, the team that won the title of PSL 2024, got Rs 4.13 crore (INR).
Most expensive players sold on the first day in IPL 2025 mega auction
- Rishabh Pant- Lucknow Super Giants, Rs 27 crore
- Shreyas Iyer- Punjab Kings, 26.75 crores
- Venkatesh Iyer- Kolkata Knight Riders, 23.75 crores
- Arshdeep Singh- Punjab Kings, 18 crores
- Yuzvendra Chahal- Punjab Kings, 18 crores
- Jos Buttler- Gujarat Titans, Rs 15.75 crore
- KL Rahul- Delhi Capitals, 14 crores