IPL Auction 2025.LSG splurge record INR 27 crore for Pant, Shreyas gets 26 75 crore from PBKS

Arshdeep Singh was the first player sold at the mega auction, also to PBKS for INR 18 crore.Rishabh Pant has become the most expensive player in IPL history after he was sold to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for INR 27 crore (USD 3.21 million approx.) on the first day of the mega auction in Jeddah. He surpassed the mark set by Punjab Kings (PBKS), who had bid INR 26.75 crore (USD 3.18 million approx.) to buy Shreyas Iyer a few minutes earlier.
Both LSG and PBKS were in need of new captains this season and Pant and Shreyas will likely fill those roles for them. Both players surpassed the record INR 24.75 crore bid that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had made for Mitchell Starc at the IPL 2024 auction.
LSG and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) began the bidding for Pant, with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) joining the race once RCB dropped out. SRH and LSG took the bid to INR 20.75 crore, at which point SRH dropped out and Pant was sold to LSG. The auctioneer then asked Delhi Capitals (DC) if they wanted to use a right-to-match (RTM) option to buy back Pant, and DC said yes. According to the new RTM rules at this auction, the team that won the bidding was given another opportunity to raise their bid, which LSG did from INR 20.75 crore to INR 27 crore. DC said they did not want to match that bid, which meant Pant was sold to LSG for a record price.
"No matter how much you plan, things don't always work out like that," Shashwat Goenka, the LSG owner, said. "This [getting Pant for 27 crore] was very well to our plan. It wasn't really a magic number, we just wanted a number so that the RTM doesn't get exercised."Shreyas was the third player up for sale from the first set of marquee players and KKR opened the bidding in an attempt to buy back their title-winning captain. However, they dropped out of the bidding at INR 10 crore, after which DC and PBKS were competing for Shreyas, with both teams needing captains. PBKS, who came in with the largest purse of INR 110.5 crore, won the bid at INR 26.75 crore.
Ricky Ponting, the new PBKS coach, said he was delighted to work with Shreyas again, after their time together at DC. "I haven't spoken to him yet, I tried to call him before the auction but he didn't pick up," he said when asked if Shreyas would be the new PBKS captain. "He's been a successful captain in IPL before, I worked with him for 3-4 years in Delhi and he was the championship winner last season. I'm delighted to work with him again, if he can do that for us in the IPL I'll be pretty happy."
KL Rahul was the third major Indian batter in the marquee sets and while KKR, RCB and CSK all bid for him, he was eventually sold to DC for INR 14 crore ($1.67 million approx.) and could become their captain. Rahul's previous franchise LSG did not use the RTM option on him.
Venkatesh Iyer sold for INR 23.75 crore
Perhaps the biggest surprise on day one, however, was the fierce bidding for allrounder Venkatesh Iyer from KKR and RCB. He was eventually sold for a whopping INR 23.75 ($2.83 million approx.) crore to his former franchise KKR, whose most expensive retained player was Rinku Singh at INR 13 crore, followed by Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy at INR 12 crore each. Iyer was KKR's first buy at the auction.