November 25, 2024 - On the first day of the IPL 2025 mega auction yesterday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, records were made as new stars came to the fore and existing ones got even bigger. Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant and batsman Shreyas Iyer received record-breaking bids.

Pant was bought by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for Rs 27 crore, making him the most expensive player in IPL history. His base price was Rs 2 crore.

Iyer was bought by Punjab Kings (PBKS) for a record Rs 26.75 crore. His base price was Rs 2 crore.

It is for the first time in IPL history that a player has been sold for more than Rs 25 crore.

An upcoming star, Jammu & Kashmir's medium pacer Rasikh Dar yesterday became the most expensive uncapped player. His base price was Rs 30 lakh, but he was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for a whopping Rs 6 crore. In the last season, Dar played for Delhi Capitals (DC).

Pant had been with DC since 2018. The owners used their Right to Match (RTM) card for the player at Rs 20.75 crore but later opted out in the face of LSG’s bid of Rs 27 crore. Pant is expected to captain LSG now after the owners had earlier released last season’s skipper KL Rahul. Yesterday’s auction saw Pant’s salary jump by 68.75% compared to his previous season's salary. The wicketkeeper-batsman had earned Rs 16 crore from DC until the 2024 season.

Shreyas is also now likely to lead PBKS replacing England’s Sam Curran who was released by the team after last season. Shreyas was captain of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the last season and led the team to lift the trophy. His decision to leave KKR worked for him. Yesterday’s auction saw his value jump by 119%. He had previously received Rs 12.25 crore from KKR.

Other significant buys include all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer who went to KKR for Rs 23.75 crore. His last team too was KKR from which he had received Rs 8 crore.

Arshdeep Singh was bought by PBKS for Rs 18 crore. His previous team was PBKS, too, from which he had received Rs 4 crore.

Yuzvendra Chahal went to PBKS for Rs 18 crore. His previous team was Rajasthan Royals (RR) from whom he had received Rs 6.5 crore.

Mitchell Start of Australia was bought by DC for Rs 11.75 crore.

Kagiso Rabada of South Africa went to Gujarat Titans (GT) for Rs 10.75 crore.

Jos Butler of England went to GT for Rs 15.75 crore.

Mohammed Shami was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for Rs 10 crore.

Mohammed Siraj was taken by GT for Rs 12.25 crore.

KL Rahul went to DC for Rs 14 crore.

Among those who went unsold were David Warner, Devdutt Padikkal, Jonny Bairstow and Piyush Chawla.

In the auction, there were 577 players, of whom 367 are Indian and 210 overseas. Of the 204 spots available to the franchises, 70 are reserved for foreign players. Each team has to put together a team of a minimum of 18 players by end of the auction.