IPL 2025 mega auction: All you need to know
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction will be held on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 577 players, including India's domestic stars and high-profile international players, will be up for grabs. The event will start at 1:00pm local time (3:30pm IST) on both days, just after the conclusion of Day 3 and Day 4 of the Perth Test. Here is all you need to know about the bidding event.
Marquee players and team budgets
The auction will have two lists of marquee players, with six names each. The first list has Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Jos Buttler, Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada, and Mitchell Starc. The second list has KL Rahul, Yuzvendra Chahal, Liam Livingstone, David Miller, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj. Meanwhile, Punjab Kings have the highest budget of Rs. 110.5 crore while Rajasthan Royals have the lowest at ₹41 crore.
Player pool and reserve prices
Out of 1,574 players who registered for the auction, 577 have been shortlisted. This includes last-minute additions like England's Jofra Archer and USA's Saurabh Netravalkar. The player pool includes 367 Indian and 210 overseas players. The highest reserve price is Rs. 2 crore with 81 players listed at that amount, while the lowest has been increased from Rs. 20 lakh to Rs. 30 lakh.
Bidding wars and auction strategies
Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul are likely to trigger fierce bidding wars in the early marquee sets. Notably, this mega auction is also the first in the era of impact substitutes, a factor that could play a major role in auction strategies and trends. The auction will begin with two marquee sets followed by capped players of different categories. Uncapped players will then go under the hammer before an accelerated auction process starts.
Timing and streaming details
As mentioned, the mega-auction will begin at 1:00 PM local time (3:30 PM IST) on both days, right after the conclusion of Day 3 and 4 of the Perth Test. First session - 3:30pm IST to 5:00pm IST. Lunch Break - 5:00pm IST to 5:45pm IST. Second session - 5:45pm IST to 10:30pm IST. The bidding event will be televised live on the Star Sports Network, and streamed live on the JioCinema app and website.
Team budgets and available slots
Each IPL team has a budget of Rs. 120 crore to buy players. However, some of it has already been spent on retaining players. A squad can have 18-25 players, including a maximum of eight overseas players. After retaining 46 players (including 10 overseas), up to 204 slots remain to be filled at the auction.
Right to match (RTM) explained
The Right to Match (RTM) is one of the most unique features of the IPL auction. It enables a franchise to buy back a player who was part of their squad in the last season by matching the highest bid by another franchise. The winning bidder gets one more chance to raise the bid, forcing the player's previous team to either match the increased offer or let go of the player.
Purse of each team
Punjab Kings - Rs. 110.5 crore (maximum). Rajasthan Royals - Rs. 41 crore (minimum). Royal Challengers Bengaluru - Rs 83. crore. Delhi Capitals - Rs. 73 crore. Lucknow Super Giants - Rs. 69 crore. Gujarat Titans - Rs. 69 crore. Chennai Super Kings - Rs. 55 crore. Kolkata Knight Riders - Rs. 51 crore. Mumbai Indians - Rs. 45 crore. SunRisers Hyderabad - Rs. 45 crore.
Details regarding the accelerated auction
Notably, all the registered player will not go under the hammer. The accelerated auction process will begin with the 117th player. The BCCI has informed all the franchises that the first accelerated phase will cover players numbered 117 to 577. Franchises must nominate a specified number of players from this group by 10pm IST on November 24. Once these players are auctioned, franchises must submit names of unsold or unauctioned players for another round of the accelerated process.
