IPL 2025 mega auction to take place in Jeddah

The dates coincide with the third and fourth days of the first Test between India and Australia in Perth, adding an extra layer of excitement to the cricketing calendar.

The mega auction, held every three years, spans two days instead of the usual one, drawing massive attention from cricket fans worldwide. During this event, the ten IPL franchises will strategically build their squads for the next three years (2025-27), making it one of the most-followed events in the sport.

October 31 was the deadline for teams to finalize their player retentions from the 2024 squads saw a total of 46 players retained across the ten franchises. Sunrisers Hyderabad's wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen emerged as the most expensive retention at INR 23 crore. Following closely were Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and Nicholas Pooran (Lucknow Super Giants), both retained for INR 21 crore. The retention day highlight was Mumbai Indians securing all their key Indian players--Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, and Tilak Varma--for a combined total of INR 75 crore.

According to ESPNcricinfo, each franchise has a total purse of INR 120 crore to build their squads. After the retentions, Punjab Kings have the largest remaining budget of INR 110.5 crore, having retained only two uncapped players--Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh--for a total of INR 9.5 crore. Conversely, Rajasthan Royals have the smallest purse of INR 41 crore, having retained the maximum allowed six players, a strategy also adopted by Kolkata Knight Riders, who have INR 51 crore left to spend.

This year, teams were allowed to retain up to six players, with a maximum of five being capped and up to two uncapped. The retention strategy included outright retention before the auction or using the Right-to-Match (RTM) options during the auction.

The RTM rule allows a franchise to match the highest bid for a player who was part of their 2024 squad. If another franchise places the highest bid during the auction, the player's previous team can match this bid to retain the player. If the original franchise matches the highest bid, the bidding team can then raise the bid further, and the original franchise must again match this new bid to retain the player.

Punjab Kings, having retained just two players, hold the most RTM options with four. Royal Challengers Bangalore, who retained three players, have three RTM options, while Delhi Capitals, with four retained players, have two. Five franchises--Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Titans, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Lucknow Super Giants--each retained five players and thus have one RTM option. Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders, having retained six players each, have no RTM options available. (ANI)