Rishab Pant break Yuvraj's record as highest paid Indian player in IPL

Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishab Pant broke Yuvraj Singh's record to emerge as the highest-paid Indian player in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the youngest player ever to be bought at an IPL auction. He was not even born when the IPL started in 2008.

The IPL ‘mega auction for the 2025 season was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 24 and 25 November 2024.

It's being held overseas for only the second time after the 2024 season auction was held in Dubai,UAE in 2023.

What is an IPL Mega Auction? 

Mega auction is undertaken after every three years where the 10 IPL franchise teams rebuild their team. Before the mega auction the IPL franchise team can retain a maximum of 6 of their current players and the rest of the players are bought at these  mega auctions.

This year 557 players- 367 Indian and  210 foreigners participated in the mega auction.

Within the IPL auction there is a separate list of marquee players who are auctioned first.

This year  there were two sets of marquee players. Jos Buttler, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, and Mitchell Starc were in one set and second marquee set contained Yuzvendra Chahal, Liam Livingstone, David Miller, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami and  Mohammed Siraj.

Each IPL franchise team was  allowed to spend a maximum  amount of Rs 120 crore for buying the players at the 2025 IPL auction. 

Rishab Pant sold for record Rs 27 Crore 

• Lucknow Super Giant bought Rishabh Pant for Rs 27 crore. Before Rishab Pant the highest paid Indian player in the IPL was Yuvraj Singh who was bought by the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2015 for Rs 16 crore.
• Rishabh Pant has now become the highest paid player in the IPL history breaking the record of Mitchell Starc.
• Mitchell Starc of Australia held the record of being the most expensive player in the IPL after he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 24.75 crore in 2023.
• Shreyas Iyer was the second highest paid player who was bought by Punjab Kings for Rs 26.75 crores.
• Yuzvendra Chahal became the most expensive spin bowler at IPL breaking Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan record of Rs 9 crore in 2018 paid by Sunriser Hyderabad.
• Yuzvendra Chahal was bought by Punjab Kings (PBKS) for Rs 18 crore.
• Jaydev Unadkat was sold for the 13th time at an IPL auction. No other player has been sold at the auction more than seven times.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi youngest IPL Player 

Vaibhav Suryavanshi of Bihar at the age of 13 years and 243 days became the youngest player to be bought in the IPL auction.

He was bought by the Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.1 crore .

Before Vaibhav Suryavashi the record was held by Prayas Ray Barman who was bought by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for Rs 1.5 crore in 2019. 

He was then 16 years and 54 days old.

About Indian Premier League (IPL)

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a domestic T20 cricket tournament organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) since 2008.

Foreign cricketers also take part in the IPL and they play for franchise teams.

All the editions of the IPL have been held in India except the 2nd edition of 2009 which was held in South Africa due to the General Election in India. 

At present there are 10 franchise teams in the IPL; Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings , Mumbai Indians, Lucknow SuperGiants, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders ,Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans.

IPL Winners 

• The inaugural edition of the IPL was won by the Rajasthan Royals captained by legendary Australian leg spinner Shane Warne in 2008.
• Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have been the most successful sides in the IPL. Both have won the trophy five times each. 
• The 17th edition of the IPL was won by Kolkata Knight Rider defeating Sunriser Hyderabad in the final held in Chennai on 26 May 2024. 

Read: KKR wins their third IPL title beating SRH in the final at Chennai