IPL: Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul, Buttler, Shami among most-priced as 571 players set for mega auction

Mumbai: Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and K.L Rahul, who captained their sides but were not retained by their respective franchises, along with England's white-ball captain Jos Buttler are among the players with the highest reserve price of INR 2 crore for the upcoming Mega Player Auction for the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

They will join South African pacer Kagiso Rabada, India's Arshdeep Singh, Australia's Mitchell Starc, Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, back-from-injury pacer Mohd Shami and his compatriot Mohd Siraj in the highest-price bracket for the auction and expected to trigger intense bidding war when the auction takes place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on November 24 and 25, 2024.

On Friday, the Indian Premier League issued the highly-anticipated Player Auction List for the 2025 edition with a total of 574 players set to be featured in the Mega Auction in Saudi Arabia. Pant was not retained by Delhi Capitals while Shreyas Iyer and K.L Rahul were let go by Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants, respectively.

Out of the 574 players on the auction list, 366 are Indian and 208 from overseas aspirants, including three players from Associate Nations. The Auction will include 318 Indian uncapped players and 12 uncapped overseas players.

In all, 204 slots will be up for grabs with 70 slots available for overseas players, Jay Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) informed on behalf of the IPL on Friday.

According to the BCCI statement, INR 2 crore is the highest reserve price with 81 players opting to be in the highest bracket. There are 27 players with a reserve price of INR 1.50 crore each while 18 players will go into the mega auction with a reserve price of INR 1.25 crore.

The auction will have two marquee player sets at the start. Buttler, Shreyas Iyer, Pant, Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, and Starc will be in Marquee Set 1, while Chahal, Liam Livingstone, David Miller, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj will be in Marquee Set 2.

The franchises have retained a total of 46 players, investing a cumulative INR 558.5 crore. Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders and inaugural season's winner Rajasthan Royals had opted for full retentions, securing six players each. Five teams—Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Titans, Lucknow Super Giants, Mumbai Indians, and Sunrisers Hyderabad—have retained five players. Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Punjab Kings (PBKS) have retained four, three, and two players, respectively. IANS

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