Every ounce of excitement surrounding the IPL auction can be clearly felt, as the IPL 2025 mega auction is scheduled to take place on 24 and 25 November in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This will be the first mega auction outside India, although the last mini-auction happened in Dubai, but the mega auction is expected to attract significant attention, with many of cricket’s biggest names, including Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Jos Buttler, looking to see where their IPL fates lie.
There are several interesting things to look forward to in this auction. For instance, England’s legendary fast bowler James Anderson, at 42 years old, will be the oldest player participating. Having retired from international cricket, this will be Anderson’s first appearance in an IPL auction. Meanwhile, the youngest player at the auction will be India’s uncapped 13-year-old, Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
Also, Punjab Kings, who don’t have the best track record to show, but what they have is a massive purse of INR 110.5 crore and are expected to secure some big names.
The two-day mega auction will commence at 3 p.m. on Sunday, 24 November 2024. But the big question is, which player will be first player to be auctioned in the IPL 2025 mega auction?
Who will be first player to be auctioned in IPL 2025 auction?
Looking at the potential first player to be auctioned, it currently appears that England’s white-ball captain Jos Buttler, India’s Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and Arshdeep Singh, South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada, and Australia’s Mitchell Starc are likely contenders. Since all these six players are part of the Marquee set 1 , one of their names will be picked from the ballot to initiate the bidding. Hence, the chances are high that the first name called in the IPL 2025 auction will be among them.
How many players are going into IPL mega auction 2025
Initially, a total of 1,574 players registered for the IPL 2025 mega auction. However, 574 players have been shortlisted for the auction, including 366 Indian players and 208 overseas players, with 3 players from associate nations. The auction will feature 318 uncapped Indian players and 12 uncapped overseas players. Among the 574 players, 366 are Indian, while the remaining 208 are from overseas.