IPL 2025: Ranking Teams based on Final Squads (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)
A total of 228 players were sold in the IPL 2025 mega-auction, which happened on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah. Multiple reputed cricketers, such as David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Steven Smith, Kane Williamson, Shardul Thakur, Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal among many others went unsold, which was surprising, given that all these players have done a good job in the previous editions of the IPL, some even led franchises.
Punjab Kings had the most money to spend in the auction, and they have managed to build a good squad that can very well challenge for the title in the coming years. Royal Challengers Bengaluru made some heads turn by not using RTM cards on Will Jacks and Mohammed Siraj, while Lucknow Super Giants broke the bank to acquire the services of star India keeper-batter Rishabh Pant.
Mumbai Indians were relatively quiet for most of the auction as they retained five quality cricketers. At the same time, Kolkata Knight Riders’ goal was likely to get back the same set of players that have brought success in the past season and before that.
Here’s how teams have already lined up and rated them based on their auction performance:
10. Rajasthan Royals – 5.5/10
Rajasthan Royals ( Source : IPL )
Rajasthan Royals retained Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer and Sandeep Sharma ahead of the IPL 2025 mega-auction, Half of their job was done as the batting unit looked rock-solid, despite them leaving Jos Buttler. It was expected that the franchise would find a like-to-like replacement for Buttler and just get the England captain back into the squad but that didn’t happen.
Instead, they didn’t spend any bucks on openers. In case Jaiswal or Samson is injured, they don’t have anyone in the squad who can replace them. It is heavily concerning and one area that the team management should be worried about. Nitish Rana can fill the number three role, which was a good buy and Parag, Jurel and Hetmyer can be number four, five and six. Then again, no one in the squad can replace Hetmyer in case of any injury.
The bowling unit looks more-or-less sorted. Fazalhaq Farooqi was an excellent buy for INR 2 crore. Akash Madhwal and Tushar Deshpande are good options in the pace department alongside Sandeep. Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana will lead the spin department. Overall, the entire team looks slightly undercooked with no proper backup of important players. They spent heavily on retentions and missed out on the trick at the auction table.
9. Royal Challengers Bengaluru – 6/10
Royal Challengers Bengaluru. (Source -IPL/BCCI)
With the amount of money they had at the start of the auction, one might have thought that they could make an extremely good squad, which could challenge for the title. They retained Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Yash Dayal and wanted to build a squad around that but their decision to not use RTM cards on Will Jacks and Mohammed Siraj was slightly strange. Especially Jacks, who went for only INR 5.25 crore.
Yet, they have signed some quality talents such as Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Tim David, Nuwan Thushara and Liam Livingstone among others. They have also spent INR 11 crore on Jitesh Sharma and INR 10.75 crore on Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Overall, even though the team looks ready to challenge for the title, with the amount of money they had, RCB could have made a much stronger base.
They bought Devdutt Padikkal for INR 2 crore from the unsold category, who will arguably be their backup opener. However, his recent form in the cash-rich league is concerning and for the same reason, no other franchise showed interest in having him. Meanwhile, the bowling unit looks sorted with Bhuvneshwar, Hazlewood, Dayal, Rasikh Dar, Krunal Pandya and Rasikh Dar. Their middle order looks good as well but still, they miss the ‘X-Factor’ and will depend heavily on Salt and Kohli as other batters lack consistency.
8. Gujarat Titans – 6.5//10
Gujarat Titans ( Photo source : IPL )
Gujarat Titans’ top order and bowling unit looks like a well-oiled machine but the middle order is something that can trouble them throughout the next season. The franchise retained Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, Sai Sudarsan, Shahrukh Khan and Rahul Tewatia, which is a very strong base and on top of that, they have added Jos Buttler for INR 15.75 crore, Mohammed Siraj for INR 12.25, Kagiso Rabada for INR 10.75 crore, Prasidh Krishna for INR 9.5 crore and Washington Sundar for INR 3.20 crore among others.
All these signings look excellent but they have the options of Anuj Rawat, Shahrukh, Mahipal Lomror and Glenn Phillips in the middle order. Consistency has been a problem for these players and that might bother them throughout the season and can spoil their campaign eventually. The top order will be covered by Buttler, Gill and Sai, which looks good, while Prasidh, Rabada, Sundar, Gerald Coetzee and Siraj, which can cause trouble to opponents.
However, they lack that firepower in the middle order, who can be consistent in delivering good performances. The top order will be under pressure for the same reason and in case they flop, the 2022 champions will struggle.
7. Kolkata Knight Riders – 6.5/10
Kolkata Knight Riders. (Source -IPL/BCCI)
Kolkata Knight Riders retained Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh ahead of the IPL 2025 mega-auction. Half of their job was done before the auction, as all these players were proven match-winners and have done a brilliant job for the franchise. The goal was for them to get back as many players as they could from their title-winning campaign in 2024 but ultimately, they spent nearly half their budget on one single player.
KKR broke the bank as they acquired Venkatesh Iyer for a whopping INR 23.75 crore. He proved to be the third-costliest player in the mega-auction. To have him, the franchise had to let go of some of their key performers from the last season. In the end, they bid hard for Allah Ghazanfar but lost the battle to Mumbai. As they bid extremely heavily for Venkatesh, they missed out on some key players.
They have signed experienced players in Ajinkya Rahane and Manish Pandey but their credibility in modern-day T20 cricket is still a debate. Getting Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Manish Pandey, Anukul Roy and Vaibhav Arora back and signing Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje and Spencer Johnson was smart but they lack a solid Indian batter – someone like Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana. Other than that, the playing XI looks more or less sorted but there are doubts on backups.
6. Chennai Super Kings – 7/10
Chennai Super Kings, 2023. (Source – BCCI/IPL)
Chennai Super Kings retained Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube and MS Dhoni ahead of the IPL 2025 mega-auctions. They built a strong core and added some of their players from the class of 2024 in Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway – which makes their batting unit extremely strong. However, the middle order looks slightly shaky.
The five-time champions Dube, Vijay Shankar, Deepak Hooda, Sam Curran and Jamie Overton are in the middle order, alongside Dhoni and Jadeja. That might not be enough to challenge for the title. With Dhoni in the side, one might expect him to do his magic and bring out the best in these players but it looks slightly pale.
They invested heavily in Ravichandran Ashwin, which is a good buy, given the surface at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The bowling unit also features Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary and Pathirana, which is a decent unit. However, they could have done a better job for the middle order position as it now heavily depends on Dube.
Also Check: IPL 2025: Complete list of unsold players from mega auction
5. Lucknow Super Giants – 7.5/10
Lucknow Super Giants. (Source -IPL/BCCI)
Lucknow Super Giants had a stunning auction if only the batting unit is considered. Getting Rishabh Pant, David Miller, Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram in a single auction is a terrific business, especially when the franchise already had Nicholas Pooran and Ayush Badoni in the mix. They have arguably got everyone they asked for but as they spent heavily in the batting department, the bowling unit looks slightly underprepared.
They retained Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav and Mohsin Khan which was a great call and signed Avesh Khan, Akash Deep, M Siddharth, Shahbaz Ahmed and Shamar Joseph among others. It looks like a good core but they needed an overseas fast bowler to complete the pack, which is missing. Someone like Josh Hazlewood, Kagiso Rabada and Gerald Coetzee could have been an excellent add but they missed that trick.
Overall, Lucknow should be happy with what they have got. In the 2024 edition, the franchise co-owner was unhappy with the intent of the batters and that is one area that they have covered very well. LSG have got the squad that can challenge for the title but they need the support of the bowlers.
4. Delhi Capitals – 8/10
Delhi Capitals. (Source -IPL/BCCI)
Delhi Capitals have built a very strong unit. They used the RTM card to get back Jake Fraser-McGurk in the auction and bought KL Rahul for INR 14 crore. The duo is very likely to open the innings, with Harry Brook at number three, Tristan Stubbs at four and Abishek Porel at number five. This looks like a very strong unit and the has good backups in Faf du Plessis and Sameer Rizvi.
Ashutosh Sharma was excellent for Punjab Kings in the last edition, and he will have the role of the finisher alongside Axar Patel. Their bowling unit meanwhile looks extremely strong. The duo of Mitchell Starc and T Natarajan can wreak havoc and Kuldeep Yadav will take care of the spin department. Mukesh Kumar or Mohit Sharma will be their number XI, which makes it a deadly bowling unit.
They however lack a bit of experience in the middle. It won’t be surprising if Faf du Plessis is preferred ahead of Harry Brook, who doesn’t have a very good record in the IPL. In that case, Faf can open with Jake and Rahul can play at number three. This is one area that the management needs to fix. How the backroom staff works will play a big part in how the franchise plays next season.
3. Punjab Kings – 8.5/10
Punjab Kings. (Source -IPL/BCCI)
Punjab have arguably built the strongest squad in their history. They have signed the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen and Yuzvendra Chahal and got back Arshdeep Singh and Harpreet Brar as well. They have been smart in buying the players and the squad looks good enough to challenge for the title. However, they lack a quality Indian keeper, which is slightly concerning.
PBKS may open with Prabhsimran Singh and Australia international Josh Inglis. Shreyas Iyer is likely to bat at three, followed by Maxwell, Nehal Wadhera and Stoinis at number four, five and six. The middle order looks power-packed and at number seven, they have Shashank Singh, who proved to be their most important player in the last edition of the IPL.
As long as they sort out the opening combination, the batting unit can scare any opponent. The bowling unit seems even better on paper. Marco Jansen was an excellent buy and he can prove to be a big difference with both bat and bowl. Harpreet Brar and Chahal will be taking care of the spin department while Arshdeep Singh will be the new-ball bowler and can also deliver in the death. Overall, Punjab look sorted on paper.
2. Mumbai Indians – 9/10
Mumbai Indians. (Source -IPL/BCCI)
Mumbai Indians retained Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma ahead of the mega-auction. It was brilliant from the team management to retain all five cricketers, especially after a season-long episode regarding the captaincy change from Rohit to Hardik. Notably, they had a great core and on top of that, the five-time champions have added Trent Boult, Naman Dhir, Deepak Chahar and Allah Ghazanfar among others.
They have covered all the bases this time around and can challenge for the title. The trio of Bumrah, Boult and Chahar looks deadly and young Ghazanfar is a surprise package that has all the ability to shine bright in a team that features legends of the game. They have got good backups as well in Mitchell Santner, Reece Topley, and Karn Sharma among others.
Their only concern will be the keeping department. Ryan Rickelton may open with Rohit Sharma but the South Africa international doesn’t have enough experience of playing in the IPL. In case he flops, Suryakumar may end up opening and Robin Minz will fit in the playing XI. However, he too lacks experience.
1. Sunrisers Hyderabad – 9.5/10
Sunrisers Hyderabad. (Source -IPL/BCCI)
Sunrisers Hyderabad have got the best squad at the moment. They retained Heinrich Klaasen, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Nitish Reddy and on top of that, the 2016 champions signed Ishan Kishan for INR 11.25 crore, Mohammed Shami for INR 10 crore, Harshal Patel for INR 8 crore, Rahul Chahar for INR 3.2 crore and Adam Zampa for INR 2.4 crore, making it a star-studded team.
They have covered all the bases. The Cummins-led side built a new bowling attack that features the captain himself, Shami, Harshal, Chahar, Jaydev Unadkat and Simarjeet Singh among others. In the batting department, they have added Atharva Taide, who can replace Abhishek Sharma if required and Abhinav Manohar can also be an excellent fit or can be used as an Impact Sub if required.
Hyderabad qualified for the final in the IPL 2024 and this time around, they can go the distance and lift the trophy for the second time. Be it playing XI or backups, they have got everything sorted. However, they will only hope that the players remain injury-free.