IPL 2025 mega auction: 1,574 players register for 204 slots
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction has drawn a record number of cricketers with as many as 1,574 players having registered their interest. The list features both domestic and international talent, with the majority being Indians. The auction will be held on November 24 and November 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This is the second consecutive year that IPL auctions are being held overseas after Dubai hosted it in 2024.
Breakdown of players for IPL 2025 auction
The player pool for the IPL 2025 auction is diverse, including 1,165 Indian and 409 overseas cricketers. Of these, 320 are capped players while the rest are uncapped. The list also features a small contingent of 30 players from Associate Nations. Notably, big names like Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Arshdeep Singh will be part of this year's auction.
Franchise budgets and overseas player participation
The 10 IPL franchises have a combined budget of ₹641.5 crore to fill the 204 available slots (70 slots reserved for overseas players). Punjab Kings has the largest purse (₹110.5 crore) while Rajasthan Royals has the smallest (₹41 crore). 409 overseas players are participating in the auction, with South Africa (91), Australia (76), England (52), New Zealand (39) and West Indies (33) being the top contributing nations.
Retention details and top bids for IPL 2025
Ahead of the auction, the franchises retained 46 players at a total cost of ₹558.5 crore. Sunrisers Hyderabad retained wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen for ₹23 crore, making him the most expensive retention this year. Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Lucknow Super Giants also made big retentions with Virat Kohli and Nicholas Pooran respectively, both at ₹21 crore each. Mumbai Indians retained their key Indian players- Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma- for ₹75 crore.
