The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction has taken place on November 24 and 25, 2024 at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. The two-day mega auction – which takes place once every three years – will see some renowned players go under the hammer as well, including Rishabh Pant, Mitchell Starc, KL Rahul, Jos Buttler and to name a few.
The 10 IPL franchises will take part in the auction, where a total of 577 players enter the bidding process as well. Among them, 367 will be Indian, while 210 are overseas as well. Moreover, each IPL team must have at least 18 players in their roster at the end of the auction as well.
Here are the players Delhi Capitals retained before the mega auction.
Before Auction
Retained Players: Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Abhishek Porel
DC: 73 corere. Remaining slots – 21, Overseas – 7
During Auction
Mitchell Starc: Mitch Starc entered the auction with 2 crores. MI started the bidding for Starc and KKR too joined. The bid has touched 6 crore and DC joined in. KKR soon escalated the bid up to 9 crore but DC wanted to have the pacer and it crossed 10 crore soon. While it was almost sure for RCB, DC jumped back in at the last moment. And, he sold to DC for 11.75 crore.
Jake Fraser-McGurk: Jake Fraser-McGurk set his base price 2 crore and DC wanted their man back. However, PBKS started competing and took it up to 2.2 crore as well. Soon, LSG joined and both LSG and PBKS battled it out for him as well. However, all their bids went in vain as DC want to exercise their RTM to get JFM back as well.
Harry Brook:
England star Harry Brook enters at 2 crore. CSK open the bidding for Brook. PBKS jump in and compete with CSK. Steady raising of paddles at the CSK and PBKS tables.
Iirc, Joburg Super Kings picked Brook for the first season of the SA20, but Brook had to pull out of the tournament. Good player of spin. In the last auction, Ponting picked him for DC, but Brook withdrew from IPL 2024 for personal reasons. Seems like Ponting wants him back, this time at PBKS.
CSK need a moment to recalculate. They come back in at 4.8 crore. PBKS escalate it up to 5 crore.
Are CSK done? Not yet, they’re back in it at 5.25 crore. PBKS in the lead at 5.50 crore. Fleming suggests that CSK are out. However, they change their minds at the last instant and hike the bid up to 5.75 crore.
Ponting and co. pause for a bit. They’re in it at 6 crore. CSK are out but DC jump in at 6.25 crore. The battle is between Ponting’s current franchise and former franchise. PBKS tap out. Brook goes to DC for 6.25 crore.
KL Rahul:
A base price of INR 2 crore. KKR come in right away. RCB at INR 2.20 crore. There is a bidding war between the two teams. The bids have gone past the INR 5 crore mark.
KL Rahul was the LSG captain last season, while he has also played for RCB in the past.
Both KKR and RCB are going for Rahul. RCB have taken the bid up to INR 9 crore. But KKR are not backing down. The bids have gone past the INR 10 crore mark.
KKR are at INR 10.75 crore, RCB are asking for a minute. They back out. Delhi Capitals come in at INR 11 crore. KKR are having a discussion. And they raise their paddle, with a quick retort from Capitals.
Capitals holding on to Rahul for 12 crore. Haaaang on, CSK have entered the bid at INR 12.25 crore. Capitals not backing down. The bids have now reached INR 14 crore with Delhi and CSK are backing out.
KL Rahul sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 14 crore. LSG not exercising their RTM. Rahul will play for DC in IPL 2025.
T Natarajan: The Indian pace bowler T Natarajan entered the bid at his base price of 2 crore. And, SRH opened the bidding for him as well alongside RCB. SRH took it up to 4 crore and then RCB came back in at 4.2 crore. Soon, DC joined the bidding and RCB escalated the bid up to 7 crores. DC came back in at 7.25 crore and eventually bought him for 10.75 crore.
