Record-Breaking Bids Witnessed on Day 1 of IPL 2025 Mega Auction

The much-anticipated Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction commenced on a grand scale in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, marking an exciting moment for cricket enthusiasts worldwide. Facilitated at the Abady Al-Johar Arena, the event spans two days, offering the league’s 10 participating teams a prime opportunity to reconstruct their squads for the upcoming seasons.

This edition of the auction features a total of 204 slots up for grabs, including 70 spots for foreign players. The player pool, comprising 577 cricketers, includes 367 Indians and 210 overseas players, providing a wide selection for the franchises. The minimum base price set is ₹30 lakh, with the upper limit at ₹2 crore.

Rishabh Pant emerged as the highlight of the auction’s opening day, as Lucknow Super Giants acquired his services for a staggering ₹27 crore. This acquisition marks the highest bid in IPL history, surpassing the previous record set by Punjab Kings for Shreyas Iyer at ₹26.75 crore.

All teams are allocated a budget capped at ₹120 crore, requiring them to strategically form squads of at least 18 and no more than 25 players, including a maximum of eight overseas players. Prior to the auction, franchises could retain up to six players, factoring in five capped and two uncapped Indians, with the associated cost deducted from their auction funds.

The innovative retention process includes the use of Right to Match (RTM) cards, which allow teams to retain former players by matching the auction’s highest bid. Notably, Punjab Kings retained only two uncapped players, providing them the largest auction purse of ₹110.5 crore along with four RTM cards for capped players.

In comparison, Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders, with full retention quotas, enter the auction with significantly reduced budgets of ₹41 crore and ₹51 crore, respectively, limiting their options of further bolstering their squads through RTM.