The Indian Premier League (IPL) revealed yesterday that 1574 players have registered for the IPL 2025 mega auction. That mammoth number would decrease by some distance before the auction arrives in three weeks, but what’s interesting is the base price set for some of these players. For the unaware, the minimum price a cricketer could set themselves is Rs 20 lakh, while the maximum remains at Rs 2 crore.
This means that capped players can decide the safe price at which they’ll get an ensured bid. Some choose as little as Rs 50 lakh, while others don’t hesitate to go for the maximum amount. According to ESPNcricinfo, several Indian players and some foreign stars have put their base price at Rs 2 crore for the IPL 2025 mega auction. All of these cricketers are expected to be picked with ease by one franchise or the others at the auction. However, a couple of players have decided to lowball themselves as well.
Pant, Shreyas & KL set maximum base price
Of the 32 players that have set their base price at Rs 2 crore for the IPL mega auction, three of the biggest names are Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Shreyas Iyer. Captains at their respective franchises, the final price of each of them at the auction could be multiplied by ten. They’ll be the most sought-after players, with several franchises like the Punjab Kings, Delhi Capitals, Lucknow Super Giants, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru looking for a captain.
So far, we know that nine foreign stars have set themselves at Rs 2 crore. Mitchell Starc, who went for a record-breaking Rs 24.75 crore last year, finds himself at the mega auction after being released, while Jos Buttler and Glenn Maxwell will also go under the hammer with a starting bid of Rs 2 crore.
The biggest surprise name so far is James Anderson, who has decided to start his franchise career at the age of 42. The pacer hasn’t played a T20 match since 2014 and wants to break that 11-year streak at the IPL 2025. Meanwhile, Sarfaraz Khan and Prithvi played it safe, setting a base price of Rs 75 lakh. Both are expected to find a home at the mega auction.
IPL 2025 mega auction: Base prices
Rs 2 crore: Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Venkatesh Iyer, Avesh Khan, Ishan Kishan, Mukesh Kumar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, T Natarajan, Devdutt Padikkal, Krunal Pandya, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mitchell Starc, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Jonny Bairstow, Kagiso Rabada, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson
Rs 1.25 crore: James Anderson
Rs 75 lakh: Sarfaraz Khan and Prithvi Shaw