The mega auction of IPL 2025 is scheduled to take place in Riyadh on November 24 and 25. For the second time in its history, the Indian Premier League will conduct the auction outside India. This has been decided as the BCCI is trying its best to make the league more global, and for this reason, it chose Riyadh. Perhaps just as interesting is the timing with the India-Australia Test series scheduled to start on Nov 22-26 so that fans and franchises in general would keenly focus on overlapping events.
Last week, all ten IPL franchises declared their retention lists. The largest of these is by Punjab Kings at ₹110.5 crore. Punjab chose to retain promising uncapped players, Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh, thereby putting themselves in a position as one of the financially most flexible teams at the IPL 2025 mega auction in Riyadh.
Rajasthan Royals head into the auction with the lowest budget. They have retained core players Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Dhruv Jurel along with seasoned overseas stars Shimron Hetmyer and domestic talent Sandeep Sharma.
IPL 2025 mega auction in Riyadh set to shape up squads
The major draw to the IPL 2025 mega auction in Riyadh would be the availability of marquee players such as Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul. The returning winner captain of IPL 2024 with KKR, Shreyas Iyer, will certainly fetch much attention in the upcoming auction. Though he has led KKR to their first-ever IPL title after a long wait, he is not retained by the franchise, making him the most sought-after prospect for the next auction.
Going under the hammer this season since he parted ways with his home team Delhi Capitals close to a decade back, Rishabh Pant too will be a part of the auction pool in his second season in the fray. KL Rahul, Lucknow Super Giants’ initial buy at ₹17 crore, is another marquee player whom teams looking to bolster leadership might go all out for.
The auction in Riyadh also sees Punjab Kings coming into the fray with the strategic advantage of having four RTM cards in their kitty, which also means teams like Rajasthan Royals and KKR going about without options.
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