IPL 2025: 3 teams that overspent on players in auction

Shreyas Iyer. (Source – Getty Images)

The IPL 2025 mega auction were a two-day affair on November 24 and 25. The 10 franchises splurged a staggering INR 639.15 crore on 182 players over two days. INR 383.4 crore were spent on 120 Indian players at the mega auction. The auction saw the records of the previous auctions broken and some new names holding the coveted spot hereafter. 

Arshdeep Singh became the first ever Indian cricketer to surpass the most-priced auction record held by Yuvraj Singh, as he was sold for 18 crore for Punjab Kings in the past. But this record was short-lived as Shreyas Iyer became the highest-ever pair player as PBKS bought him for 26.75 crore. Then came the most sought-after auction of Rishabh Pant. He shattered all records by getting sold to Lucknow Super Giants for a record 27 crore.

Here are the 3 teams that overspent on players in the IPL 2025 mega auction: 

3. Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals ( Source : IPL )

Rajasthan Royals (RR) maintained their core group as they retained Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Sandeep Sharma, Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel. They entered the auction with a remaining purse amount of 41 crore. Though the Rajasthan-based franchise had a lot of induction at hand, they managed to make a squad of just 20 players ahead of the tournament. 

They spent a good number of their purse on England pacer, Jofra Archer as they bought him for 12.5 crore. Understandably, they needed a star pacer after releasing Trent Boult. Boult was bought by MI for the same amount. With their eyes set on Archer, his injury concerns will remain a big reason for the team in the two-month-long event.

2. Sunrisers Hyderabad

Kavya Maran. (Source – SRH)

Franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) had their core team set up ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auctions. They had retained the likes of Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen, Pat Cummins, and Nitish Kumar Reddy. They entered the auction with 45 crore in their purse and managed to shop only 15 players in the auction making their squad strength two players more than a minimum mark of 18. 

Though they had the set openers in the form of Abhishek and Head who were in splendid touch last year, the team went all out for Ishan Kishan as they got him for 11.5 crore. It is understandable that the team was aiming for a backup opener, they spent 8 core on Harshal Patel which left them to let go of their experienced pacer, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and could not use the Right To Match (RTM) card option.

1. Kolkata Knight Riders

Venky Mysore and Shreyas Iyer. (Source – KKR)

One of the most popular IPL franchises, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) retained players who were touted as the obvious ones. They asked Rinku Singh ( 13 crore), Varun Chakaravarthy ( 12 crore), Sunil Narine ( 12 crore), Andre Russell ( 12 crore), Harshit Rana ( 4 crore), and Ramandeep Singh ( 4 crore) to stay with the team and entered the auction with a purse amount of 51 crore. KKR not retaining their winning captain, Shreyas Iyer, also raised many eyebrows. 

The franchise did bid for Iyer, however, the former Captain kept getting out of their reach. They inversely, splurged almost half of the purse amount on top-order batter Venkatesh Iyer. They got him for 23.5 crore and did not bid well to get hold of their former captain, Nitish Rana. Moreover, they have only 21 players in their squad and had to let go of their fiery opener from last year, Phil Salt as he was bought by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for 11.5 crore.