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Cricket PlayersFranchise loses 19 players in IPL auction 2025 despite buying three of the costliest, and spending INR 110.50 crore
Despite buying three of the top five costliest picks in IPL 2025 and spending ₹110.50 crore in the IPL auction, this team lost 19 players.
A whopping ₹639.15 crore was spent during the two-day-long IPL auction 2025 by all 10 franchises, a record in itself. Out of which, the Punjab Kings alone spent ₹110.15 crore - the most. This was on the expected lines as PBKS entered the mega auction with the biggest purse - no other team had more than 100 crores in their purse. The Punjab-based franchise, co-owned by Bollywood actress Preity Zinta and businessman Ness Wadia, was the busiest team during the auction for obvious reasons. They had retained only two players and had to pick up the maximum number of players in a bid to overhaul their squad completely. They did exactly that, buying 23 players in the auction - the most to raise their squad strength to 25 (Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh were retained).
PBKS had a largely successful auction, picking three of the top five costliest players in the IPL auction 2025. They placed a bid of ₹26.75 crore for Shreyas Iyer - the highest-ever in the history of IPL auctions, better Mitchell Starc's ₹24.75 crore last year. But the record stood only 21 minutes as the Lucknow Super Giants bought Rishabh Pant for ₹27 crore. That didn't ditter PBKS as the 2014 IPL runner-ups spent ₹18 crore for leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, making him the most expensive spinner in the history of IPL auctions.
Not to forget, PBKS started the auction by using the RTM (Right To Match) option to buy back Arshdeep Singh for ₹18 crore.
Which team bought the most players? Which team bid the least?
Despite all this, PBKS lost 19 players in the auction - the most by any team this year. They raised the paddle for as many as 47 players, also the most by any team. CSK (45), DC (40), RCB (40), and MI (42) were the other teams to enter the bidding race for more than 40 players. KKR were the least buys of all 10 teams, bidding for only 25 players, but they also lost the least number of players. Only five times did KKR become the losing bidder during this year's mega auction.
Seven of the 23 players that PBKS bought at this auction were picked at base price. Only Rajasthan Royals had a lower percentage of players bought at base price than PBKS - four out of 14.
The Mumbai Indians entered the auction with the lowest budget of INR 45 crore, having retained five players. This group included India's T20I captain, Suryakumar Yadav, and three standout performers from India's recent T20 World Cup victory: Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rohit Sharma.
During the auction, Mumbai lost bids for 15 players, ranking second only to PBKS, which lost 19. Ultimately, they managed to fill 18 of the 20 available spots, with 12 players acquired at their base price. They allocated INR 37.8 crore for the remaining six players, totaling an auction expenditure of INR 44.8 crore.
