It was shopping time in the beautiful city of Jeddah as the IPL franchises went on to shape their teams for the upcoming IPL 2025 season at the IPL 2025 mega auction and spent hundreds of crores. A lot of historic buys were made over two days, and the record for the highest-paid player in the auction history was also broken. Let us look at the top six buys made by the team owners at the IPL Auction 2025 on the best IPL betting app.
Rishabh Pant (Lucknow Super Giants)
The swashbuckling southpaw who entered the auction after being released by the Delhi Capitals made history by being the highest-paid player in the history of the Indian Premier League. This was not at all surprising that Pant was the most expensive player, although the surprising fact was that he was bought by the Lucknow Super Giants for such big money.
The bidding war ended at INR 20.75 crores for Pant when Delhi Capitals said that they would exercise their RTM card, and as per the new rule, LSG was asked to make their final offer. The final offer was so huge that Delhi’s pocket didn’t allow it, and LSG were successful in buying the player.
Pant will most likely captain the Lucknow team and will be their marquee player. Batting at number 3/4 in the team, he will be an integral part of that middle order along with Nicholas Pooran and David Miller.
Shreyas Iyer (Punjab Kings)
The speculations before the auction began were that Shreyas Iyer would cross the INR 20 crore barrier and be one of the most expensive players in the history of the Indian Premier League. All those speculations came true as, for a brief while before Pant was sold to LSG, Shreyas Iyer was the most expensive player in history, as Punjab Kings bought him for INR 26.75 crores, breaking the previous record of Mitchell Starc.
Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings seemed to be the front-runners in getting the services of Shreyas Iyer, where Punjab was successful in beating Delhi courtesy of their huge purse amount left before the auction began.
After winning the IPL 2024 as a captain with the KKR franchise, Iyer would like to replicate it with Punjab this time around. He, in all likelihood, is going to be the captain of the team and play as a batter in the number 3 position in the tournament.
Venkatesh Iyer (Kolkata Knight Riders)
The most shocking name on this list is Venkatesh Iyer, who forced his former team, Kolkata Knight Riders, to break the bank for him as they indulged in an intense bidding war with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Venkatesh Iyer was sold for INR 23.75 crores, making him the third most expensive player to be sold in the IPL auction 2025.
The performance of Iyer in the previous edition of the IPL was outstanding as he also scored a quickfire century. He will most certainly be among the leadership plans of the Kolkata Knight Riders, and it would not be a huge deal if he becomes the leader of the side and Rinku Singh becomes the vice-captain.
Venkatesh Iyer is a proper all-rounder who can bat as a floater anywhere in the team and can also bowl medium pace if required. His inclusion in the KKR team was almost a necessity for them to defend the IPL title.
Arshdeep Singh (Punjab Kings)
The left-arm quick who was released by the Punjab Kings will be a part of their team in the IPL 2025 season as he was bought back by the Punjab management using the RTM card. The bidding war for him ended at INR 15.75 crores, which was won by SRH. PBKS were asked if they would use RTM, and they said yes without a second thought. SRH’s final offer was INR 18 crores, which Punjab was happy to give to this world-class pacer.
Arshdeep will be the leader of the bowling attack at PBKS this season and will have a lot of responsibility as a leader of the pack. This price was expected for him as he is one of the most premium fast bowlers in T20 cricket and can bowl in any phase of the match with proper control and less economy.
Yuzvendra Chahal (Punjab Kings)
Having attracted bids from quite a few teams in the auction, Yuzvendra Chahal became the highest-ever-paid spinner in the history of the IPL. Chahal’s former teams, Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, tried their level best to bring him back, but the battle was won by the Punjab Kings, who are now looking like a lethal team with a brilliant bowling attack.
The bidding war that began at INR 2 crores for Chahal ended at INR 18 crores when Rajasthan finally backed out and Punjab was able to bag their player. Everyone was expecting RCB to go harder to buy back Chahal and play him at the Chinnaswamy, but it did not happen. Chahal being sold for INR 18 crores is worth every penny with the kind of quality and experience he brings to any team.
Jos Buttler (Gujarat Titans)
Having been one of their top weaknesses last season, the Gujarat Titans were desperately in need of a solid, gun opener, and as soon as they saw Jos Buttler was on the market, Ashish Nehra and the whole team management laid their eyes on him. The Gujarat team paid a whopping sum of INR 14.75 crores to bag the player who perfectly fits into their plans.
Buttler will play as an opener in the team and will also keep wickets. It will be interesting to see how he performs this year, as he did not have a great season last time around. One mistake RR made was not retaining Jos Buttler, and they have paid a heavy price for it now.
The most heartwarming thing to see in the auction was the franchises giving importance to Indian players and not shying away from writing big checks, rightly justifying the name “Indian Premier League.” The tournament is scheduled to begin in March, and you can bet on IPL on our website and the GUGOBET IPL betting app.
