IPL Auction 2025: Of high bids and inflated price tags

Indian Premier League’s annual money-spinning gala – the player auction – is mostly about following the price tags. File

For the franchises, it’s about struggling to come up with the most suitable combination in quest of the glittering trophy.

But for a majority of the fans, the Indian Premier League’s annual money-spinning gala – the player auction – is mostly about following the price tags.

While the debate over the most balanced squad will continue till the IPL 2025 starts next year, the anticipation of the auction being the grandest in terms of price tags came true over the two days at the Abadi Al Johar Arena.

It wasn’t only about Rishabh Pant (₹27 crore) and Shreyas Iyer (₹26.75 crore) fetching the two highest bids ever but even the number of successful ₹10 crore-plus bids have nearly doubled from the last auction.

In Jeddah, a whopping 21 players fetched a price equal to or higher than ₹10 crore. During the last big auction in 2022 in Bengaluru, the number was 11.

The fact that the auction purse went up from ₹90 crore to ₹120 crore from 2022 to 2025 played a role. But the bids going through the roof also signified that the demands made by certain cricketers before entering the auction were not unjust.

It is understood that the player pool became the most high-profile this time around due to certain franchises feeling a few players were demanding an amount that was way above their market price. But once the players threw their hat into the auction ring, the values just soared higher than anticipated.

“The purse overall, when you include the match fees that have come in, has gone up by over 33 per cent. That’s a massive jump in the overall salaries to players across the board, so it’s amazing for Indian cricket,” said Jake Lush McCrum, the Rajasthan Royals chief executive.

Huge potential

“It’s amazing for the future generations seeing this potential and, of course, the price is gonna rise when the overall purses rise. I don’t think there is a surprise in terms of the overall growth in high-value players.

“Whether we were expecting a 25 crore-plus player, it was significant, but you understand when it’s a captain as well and such an experienced Indian player, you get what franchises are willing to spend that much because of the scarcity.”

Having said all that, a player’s worth doesn’t necessarily reflect his value at the auction table. It’s time for the fans to turn their attention towards analysing the squads rather than only focus on price tags!