Indians in demand as Pant, Iyer bought for record sums

"If I go to the auction, will I be sold or not and for how much?" That was Rishabh Pant's midnight post from his social media handle last month that spilled the beans that retention talks between him and DC had reached a stalemate.

- Rasesh Mandani

Six weeks later, the left-handed batting maverick had the answer. Yes, to LSG for a record price of ₹27 crore.

All the drama on an action-filled Day 1 of the two-day 2025 IPL mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia played out early. Within a span of minutes, the highest-priced IPL player record was bettered twice. Shreyas Iyer was the third name up for sale, after pacers Arshdeep Singh (₹18 cr) and South Africa's Kagiso Rabada (₹10.75 cr).

Bidding for Shreyas, captain of current champions KKR, zoomed past the record of ₹24.75 cr paid for Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc by KKR at last year's auction. PBKS eventually bought Shreyas for ₹26.75 cr.

Soon after LSG, searching for a skipper like PBKS and three other teams, went even better by surpassing the bid for Shreyas in acquiring Pant, tipped as the hottest draw after he entered the auction.

The five most expensive contracts in Sunday's proceedings went to Indian players, typical of mega auctions where there are more attractive home players available compared to mini auctions. These five - Arshdeep and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (₹18 cr) being fourth and fifth and Venkatesh Iyer (₹23.75 cr) third in the list - cost teams a total of ₹113.5 cr.