For the franchises, it’s about struggling to come up with the most suitable combination in quest of chasing the glittering trophy. But for a majority of the fans, the Indian Premier League’s (IPL’s) annual money-spinning gala – the Player Auction – is mostly about following the price tags. Whilst the debate over the most balanced squad will continue until the IPL 2025 starts next year, the anticipation of the two-day auction being the grandest in terms of price tags came true over the two-day proceedings at the Abadi Al Johar Arena.
It wasn’t only about Rishabh Pant (Rs 27 crore) and Shreyas Iyer (Rs 26.75 crore) fetching the two highest bids ever, but also the number of successful Rs 10 crore-plus bids have nearly doubled from the last auction. In Jeddah, a whopping 21 players fetched a price equal to or higher than Rs 10 crore. During the last big auction in 2022 in Bengaluru, the number of such cricketers was 11.
No doubt the fact that the auction purse has gone up from Rs 90 crore to Rs 120 crore from 2022 to 2025 has played a role. But the price tags breaking through the roof also signified that the demands made by certain cricketers before entering the auction were not unjust.
It is understood that the player pool became the most high-profile this time around due to certain franchises feeling a few players were demanding an amount that was way above their market price. But once the players threw their hat into the auction ring, the values just soared higher than anticipated.
“The purse overall, when you include the match fees that have come in, has gone up by over 33 per cent. That’s a massive jump in the overall salaries to players across the board, so it’s amazing for Indian cricket,” said Jake Lush McCrum, the Rajasthan Royals chief executive.
“This is amazing for future generations, as it shows the potential available to them. Of course, prices will rise as the overall auction purses increase. I’m not surprised by the overall growth in high-value players. While we may not have expected a player to go for over Rs 25 crore, it’s still significant. But when you consider that the player is a captain and an experienced Indian player, it makes sense. Franchises are willing to spend that much because such players are rare.”
That said, a player’s worth doesn’t necessarily reflect his value at the auction table. It’s time for the fans to turn their attention towards analysing the squads rather than only focusing on price tags!