Pant Becomes IPL's Most Expensive Player

Rishabh Pant was reported to have achieved a historic milestone by becoming the most expensive player in Indian Premier League (IPL) history. He was acquired by the Lucknow Super Giants for an astounding 27 crore (£2.54 million) during the mega auction held in Saudi Arabia. The 27-year-old wicketkeeper was at the centre of a fierce bidding competition between the Super Giants and his previous team, the Delhi Capitals. His signing broke the record set earlier in the auction, where Shreyas Iyer was picked by Punjab Kings for 26.75 crore (£2.51 million).

Before Pant, the record had been held by Australian bowler Mitchell Starc, who was signed for 11.75 crore (£1 million) by the Capitals, a significant decrease from his previous cost of 24.75 crore (£2.3 million) when he joined Kolkata Knight Riders last season. Other notable signings included England’s Jos Buttler, who was secured by Gujarat Titans for 15.75 crore (£1.4 million), and Jofra Archer, who returned to Rajasthan Royals for 12.5 crore (£1.18 million).

Amidst the auction, various prominent players, including KL Rahul and Mohammad Siraj, secured contracts with different franchises, while some high-profile players, like Jonny Bairstow and David Warner, remained unsold. The auction witnessed a total of 72 players being selected by the ten franchises, with an additional session planned for the following day.

What players were signed in the IPL 2025 auction?

Chennai Super Kings: Noor Ahmed, Ravichandran Ashwin, Devon Conway, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar.

Delhi Capitals: KL Rahul, Mitchell Starc, T. Natarajan, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Harry Brook, Ashutosh Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Sameer Rizvi, Karun Nair.

Gujarat Titans: Jos Buttler, Mohammad Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Mahipal Lomror, Kumar Kushagra, Manav Suthar, Anuj Rawat, Nishant Sindhu.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Venkatesh Iyer, Anrich Nortje, Quinton De Kock, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande.

Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant, Avesh Khan, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Aryan Juyal.

Mumbai Indians: Trent Boult, Naman Dhir, Robin Minz, Karn Sharma.

Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Glenn Maxwell, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod.

Rajasthan Royals: Jofra Archer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya Singh.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Ishan Kishan, Mohammad Shami, Harshal Patel, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Chahar, Adam Zampa, Simarjeet Singh, Atharva Taide.