Year-ender: Most expensive players in IPL 2025 auction
What's the story
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction, which took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, saw all 10 franchises shelling out millions to acquire top talents from around the globe.
Rishabh Pant was the most expensive buy after being purchased by Lucknow Super Giants for a mind-boggling ₹27 crore.
With this, Pant became the highest-paid player in IPL history.
Here are the most expensive players in IPL 2025 auction.
#1
Rishabh Pant: ₹27 crore
As mentioned, Pant became the most expensive player in IPL auction history. LSG bought him for a massive ₹27 crore.
Delhi Capitals used the RTM card for Pant at ₹23.5 crore. However, LSG upped the bid to ₹27 crore and sealed the deal.
Pant surpassed Shreyas Iyer's value of ₹26.75 crore earlier at the 2025 mega auction.
#2
Shreyas Iyer: ₹26.75 crore
Minutes before Pant's deal, Iyer bagged a whopping deal with Punjab Kings. The franchise bought him for a jaw-dropping sum of ₹26.75 crore.
Iyer broke the record of Australia's Mitchell Starc, who fetched ₹24.75 crore in the 2024 auction.
Iyer displayed his leadership qualities during his time with Kolkata Knight Riders, guiding the team to IPL 2024 victory and ending a 10-year-long trophy drought.
#3
Venkatesh Iyer: ₹23.75 crore
Venkatesh Iyer, a star performer in the IPL, was re-acquired by the Kolkata Knight Riders for ₹23.75 crore in the mega auction.
Despite his immense contributions, the franchise had earlier opted against retaining him.
However, KKR went heavily on the player who saw Royal Challengers Bangalore get involved in an intense battle with the bid at the auction.
He is expected to lead KKR in the impending season.
#4
Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal: ₹18 crore
Apart from signing Shreyas, PBKS bolstered their squad by acquiring Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.
The Kings splurged ₹18 crore each to sign the two star players.
Notably, Arshdeep made his IPL debut for PBKS and played for the franchise from 2019 to 2024.
Meanwhile, Chahal has been Rajasthan Royals's top wicket-taker in the past few seasons.