New Delhi. Rishabh Pant has become the most expensive player in IPL history. On the very first day of IPL Auction 2025, Rishabh Pant was bid for Rs 27 crore. This bid was placed on Pant by Lucknow Supergiants. With this, Rishabh Pant has become the most expensive player in IPL history. Before him, this record was in the name of Shreyas Iyer (26.75 crores). Before Iyer, this record was in the name of Mitchell Starc. KKR had placed a bid of Rs 24.75 crore on Starc for IPL 2024.
Interestingly, before Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer made the record of the most expensive player. But this record of Iyer lasted only for about 15 minutes. As soon as Rishabh Pant's turn came, Iyer was left behind. Before Lucknow's historic bid on Pant, Punjab Kings included Shreyas Iyer in their team by paying Rs 26 crore 75 lakh. Shreyas Iyer was the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders last season. KKR won the IPL 2024 title under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer.
The IPL mega auction is in Jeddah city of Saudi Arabia. In this two-day player auction, a team can spend a maximum of Rs 120 crore. This also includes the amount given to the retained players. For this reason, every team except Punjab Kings has a purse of less than Rs 100 crore.
Pant and Iyer were not retained
Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, the two most expensive players to be sold in IPL 2025, were not retained by their teams. Rishabh Pant was the captain of Delhi Capitals in IPL 2024. When he was not retained, it was said that perhaps it was due to money. However, Pant later clarified that the reason for not being retained was not money.
Pant can captain Lucknow
Rishabh Pant can be seen captaining Lucknow Super Giants in the next season. Lucknow has released its captain KL Rahul. There is a possibility that the Lucknow team will try to include KL Rahul in its team again.
Iyer can captain Punjab.
Like Rishabh Pant, one of the reasons for a big bid on Shreyas Iyer is his captaincy. Iyer has proved his leadership by winning the title for Kolkata Knight Riders. Punjab Kings does not have any player yet who is a natural contender for captaincy. There is every possibility that Shreyas Iyer will captain Punjab Kings in IPL 2025.
--Advertisement--