IPL mega auction complete guide: FAQs, top players and rules explained

The IPL 2025 auction is all set to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on November 24 and 25 as the 10 teams look to fill the remaining slots in their squads ahead of the new season. The changed rules before the mega auction allowed teams to retain as many as 6 players or go with 5 players and use the right to match (RTM) on the one they would like to bring back from the auction.
The teams announced their retention list on Diwali day (October 31) and there were a few surprises. 5 teams ended up releasing their captains with big names like Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer heading into the auction pool. There will be a lot of big and proven players who will be up for grabs as the 10 franchises get ready to set themselves up for the next 3 seasons atleast. With that in mind, let’s look at everything to know about the upcoming auction.
The mega-auction will begin at 1 PM local time (3:30 PM IST) on both days, just after the conclusion of Day 3 and Day 4’s play in the Perth Test. The first session will run from 1 PM to 2:30 PM (local time), followed by a 45-minute lunch break. After lunch, proceedings will resume at 3:15 PM and continue until 8 PM local time (10:30 PM IST).
Well, Saudi Arabia has been one of the favourite destinations for major sporting events, including the WWE. The IPL, which is among the most-followed leagues in the world, found Jeddah as an ideal decision when it wanted to take the auction overseas. In the past, Dubai has hosted the IPL auction. Also, let’s not forget role that sponsors play.
1577 players registered for the mega auction. However, the player pool has been reduced to 577, with 367 Indian players and 210 overseas players. The 10 teams collectively have 204 available slots to fill, including 70 spots for overseas players.
The auction features two marquee player lists, each comprising six players.
M1 includes Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Jos Buttler, Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada, and Mitchell Starc.
M2 consists of KL Rahul, Yuzvendra Chahal, Liam Livingstone, David Miller, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj.
All of them except David Miller has a base price of Rs 2 crore. The South African is priced at Rs 1.5 crore. More about this later.
England’s James Anderson is the oldest player in the auction at 43. Bihar’s Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is the youngest at just 14. Incidentally, both players are eyeing their maiden IPL gig.
All 10 franchises retained a total of 46 players, with KKR and RR being the only teams to use their full 6 slots.
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni
Delhi Capitals: Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Abhishek Porel
Gujarat Titans: Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan
Kolkata Knight Riders: Rinku Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, Ramandeep Singh
Lucknow Super Giants: Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni
Mumbai Indians: Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma
Punjab Kings: Shashank Singh, Prabhsimran Singh
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson, Yashaswi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Sandeep Sharma
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Travis Head
The highest reserve price for the auction remains 2 crore rupees and a total of 81 players have registered at that amount. The lowest reserve price has been increased from 20 Lakh to 30 Lakh. For the marquee list players (as mentioned earlier), all except David Miller have a reserve price of 2 crore. Miller, however, has set his reserve price at 1.5 crore.
The auction will kick off with the two marquee player sets. Following that, the first set of capped players will be introduced, categorised into batters, fast bowlers, wicketkeepers, spinners, and all-rounders. This will be followed by the uncapped players, who will be similarly grouped. After this, there will be another round featuring capped players. Once these rounds are completed, the accelerated auction will begin.
The auction list includes over 500 players, but not all will be presented for bidding. The accelerated auction phase will begin with the 117th player. The BCCI has informed all 10 franchises that this phase will feature players numbered 117 to 574. By 10 PM IST on the first evening of the two-day event (November 24), franchises must nominate a specific number of players from this pool. After these players are auctioned, franchises will have the opportunity to submit names of unsold or unauctioned players for an additional round of accelerated bidding.
The Right to Match (RTM) card, a feature in the mega-auctions of 2014 and 2018 but absent in 2022, makes a return this season with a notable twist. Traditionally, RTM allowed teams to reclaim a player from their previous squad by matching the winning bid. This year, the process has been modified: after a winning bid is placed, the bidding team gets one final opportunity to increase their bid without any cap.
For instance, if a player is auctioned for INR 5 Crore, and his former team exercises their RTM, the winning team can respond by raising the bid—say, to INR 10 Crore. The former team must then decide whether to match the new higher bid to retain the player or let him go to the winning team. This change adds an extra layer of strategy to the auction process.
As mentioned above apart from KKR and RR, every other team has atleast one RTM with them. PBKS has the highest with 4, followed by RCB with 3 and DC with 2.
The auction will be broadcast live on the Star Sports Network for television viewers. Fans can also catch the action online by streaming it on the JioCinema app or website.
Note: Team refers to last team represented by the player.