JEDDAH: Resurrected generational talent Rishabh Pant pipped Shreyas Iyer to become the costliest buy in IPL’s history with a Rs 27 crore winning bid from Lucknow Super Giants, while Venkatesh Iyer was the surprise show-stopper as teams expectedly broke the bank for marquee Indian players at the mega auction here on Sunday.
Shreyas, who captained the Kolkata Knight Riders to the title earlier this year, and Delhi Capitals’ icon Pant, reaped the benefits of making themselves available at the auction following differences with their respective teams.
Venkatesh was also a part of Shreyas’ triumphant KKR outfit and the franchise had to pay a whopping Rs 23.75 crore to bring him back via the Right to Match card after not retaining him.
The big-hitting all-rounder, who has become an integral part of the KKR setup over the years, gained from an intense bidding battle between the Kolkata side and Royal Challengers Bengaluru to end with a massive sum.
Shreyas, on the other hand, was the first one to surpass Mitchell Starc as the IPL’s most expensive buy with cash-heavy Punjab Kings shelling out Rs 26.75 crore for their potential captain before Pant overtook the fellow Indian by attracting Rs 25 lakh more from LSG.
Former DC teammates Shreyas and Pant have had to deal with adversity in the past couple of years but have shown remarkable resilience and courage to bounce back.
Pant beat all odds to make a successful comeback to international cricket after a life-threatening car accident in 2022 while Shreyas put behind his exclusion from the BCCI central contracts list to lead KKR to their third IPL trophy earlier this year.
Delhi Capitals used the Right To Match to buy back Pant at Rs 20.75 crore but LSG raised the bid to Rs 27 crore and the former decided against matching that amount.
Both Shreyas and Pant are expected to lead their new teams in IPL 2025, which will begin March 14.
“I haven’t spoken to Shreyas Iyer yet on captaincy. I called him before the auction, but he didn’t pick up. He’s been a successful IPL captain, I’m delighted to work with him again,” said new Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting who spent time with Iyer at Delhi Capitals.
Shreyas responded to his move to PBKS by being expectedly “elated” and said he is looking forward to the stint.
PBKS, who went into the auction with the maximum purse — Rs 110.5 crore, — had the resources to go after the players they wanted including Shreyas, Yuzvendra Chahal (Rs 18 crore), Arshdeep Singh (Rs 18 crore) and Marcus Stonis (Rs 11 crore).
With an increased purse of Rs 120 crore per franchise, Rs 30 crore more than the previous auction three years ago, bidding records were set to be shattered and they were.
Rajasthan Royals, having retained six players, had the least amount to spend — Rs 41 crore — and they were spectators for a majority of day one. Their only buys were injury-prone pacer Jofra Archer (Rs 12.5 crore) and Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana (Rs 4.40 crore).
Chahal gets good bid; Starc’s fortunes dip
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Among the second set of players, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal drew an impressive winning bid of Rs 18 crore from Punjab Kings while former LSG captain KL Rahul turned out to be a bargain buy for Delhi Capitals at Rs 14 crore.
Chahal, who was dropped from the Indian team despite not getting a game in its victorious T20 World Cup campaign, was released by Rajasthan Royals ahead of the mega auction. However, his latest price tag suggests he remains a sought after player in the IPL.
India pacer Mohammed Shami, who recently made a comeback from injury, was bought by SunRisers Hyderabad for Rs 10 crore.
Among others, Punjab Kings bought back left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh for Rs 18 crore via RTM while South African speedster Kagiso Rabada, who was released by Punjab Kings, was bought for Rs 10.75 crore by Gujarat Titans.
Arshdeep was the first player to be sold in the mega auction and he ended up fetching the same price that Punjab Kings would have had to pay to retain him as their leading player.
Australian veteran Starc got a much lower price than last year’s Rs 24.75 crore and was sold to Delhi Capitals for Rs 11.75 crore this time. England’s Jos Buttler went to Gujarat Titans for Rs 15.75 crore.
“Starc is a match-winner, he is a wicket-taker and we couldn’t be happier. And with KL Rahul, again somebody who we believe is a bankable player, will give you runs each season,” said DC head coach Hemang Badani.
Warner, Padikkal unsold
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After the lunch break, it was Venkatesh’s hefty price tag that attracted the most attention.
Another significant development was India veteran R Ashwin going back to the franchise of his home city — Chennai Super Kings.
CSK paid Rs 9.75 crore to secure Ashwin, who broke into the India squad following his exploits at the franchise under Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra were two good buy backs for CSK in the session, going for Rs 6.25 crore and Rs four crore respectively.
Destructive Australian batter Jake Fraser McGurk went back to Delhi Capitals for Rs nine crore after the franchise exercised its RTM.
However, IPL stalwart David Warner had no takers on the opening day of the auction as he went unsold at a base price of Rs two crore. Similar was the case of Indian batter Devdutt Padikkal. They might come back in the accelerated auction on Monday.
Towards the end of the day, it was time for fast bowlers to land fat paychecks. Among them were Josh Hazlewood (Rs 12.5 crore, RCB), Prasidh Krishna (Rs 9.5 crore, Gujarat Titans), Avesh Khan (Rs 9.75 crore, LSG), Trent Boult (Rs 12.5 crore, Mumbai Indians) and Archer.
This is the second time an IPL auction is being held outside the country after last year’s event in Dubai. (PTI)