Iyer, Pant, Rahul Among 12 Marquee Players for IPL 2025 Auction

Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul, three captains released by their respective franchises ahead of the retention deadline, will headline the IPL 2025 auction as part of the 12 marquee players. The auction, which will take place in Jeddah on November 24-25, will feature these star names, including seven from India.

The first group of marquee players includes Iyer, Pant, and Arshdeep Singh, while the second group features Rahul, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj. The list of five overseas players comprises Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc, who set a record for the highest bid at the IPL 2024 auction, England’s white-ball captain Jos Buttler, allrounder Liam Livingstone, South African power-hitter David Miller, and fast bowler Kagiso Rabada.

Notable Absentees
Among the key absentees from the auction list are England fast bowlers Jofra Archer and Mark Wood. Archer, who had undergone elbow surgery and was not expected to play in IPL 2022, was signed by Mumbai Indians for INR 8 crore but played only five games over two seasons before being released. Wood, who was signed by Lucknow Super Giants in 2022 but missed the season due to injury, also pulled out of the IPL 2024 to manage his workload before the T20 World Cup. Both Archer and Wood are centrally contracted by the ECB.

James Anderson's IPL Dream
Veteran England fast bowler James Anderson, who recently retired as the country's leading Test wicket-taker, is also in the auction pool. At 42, Anderson, a red-ball specialist, has not played a T20 match since 2014 but is seeking to join the global franchise circuit following his retirement. He will be the oldest player at the auction, with a base price of INR 1.25 crore, hoping to make his IPL debut.

Young Talents at the Auction
On the opposite end of the spectrum, 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi is the youngest player on the auction list. Suryavanshi has already played five first-class matches for Bihar and represented India Under-19, even scoring a century against Australia Under-19s last month. Another promising teenager is Sri Lanka Under-19 pacer Dumindu Sewmina, known for his slingy action and recent performances in the Lanka T10 league, hoping to follow in the footsteps of Lasith Malinga clones like Matheesha Pathirana and Nuwan Thushara into the IPL.

Marquee List Structure
For the first time since the 2018 auction, the marquee player list has been split into two groups. Previously, there were 16 marquee players across two sets. In the last mega auction in 2022, there was just one set of 10 marquee players. 

Teams and RTM Cards 
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) have retained the maximum number of six players each and, therefore, will not be able to use any right-to-match (RTM) cards during the auction. Punjab Kings (PBKS) can use four RTM cards, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) three, and Delhi Capitals (DC) two. Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Gujarat Titans (GT), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), and Mumbai Indians (MI) each have one RTM card. The RTM card allows a team to buy back a player they have released by matching the highest bid made for that player.

Auction Details
The IPL 2025 auction will feature 574 players, including 366 Indians and 208 overseas players. Additionally, three players from Associate teams — Ali Khan and former India Under-19 captain Unmukt Chand (both from the USA), and Scotland's Brandon McMullen — are also in the mix. Of the 330 uncapped players, 318 are from India, while 12 are from overseas.

There are 204 available slots to be filled across the 10 IPL teams, including 70 for overseas players. The auction will start at 1:00 PM local time (3:30 PM IST) on November 24.