IPL 2025 auction: Likely return of Virat Kohli as captain, a 13-year-old recruit and other talking points

Records were broken during two-day player auction in Jeddah

Virat Kohli could be back as Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain. Sportzpics for IPL

The Indian Premier League player auction for the 2025 season concluded in Jeddah on Monday and, once again, it did not disappoint.

The dynamics of the exercise are such that budget constraints, bidding pressure and recent bias results in some extraordinary acquisitions and also questionable omissions. It is what it is, although there was a bit more structure to the proceedings in Saudi Arabia.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer were in the auction pool and guaranteed to attract the highest bids as both are solid middle-order batsmen with leadership qualities; Shreyas had guided Kolkata to the title last season.

Pant became the most expensive player in the history of the league as he was bought by Lucknow Super Giants for a staggering $3.2 million.

He broke the record that was earlier set by Shreyas, who went to Punjab Kings for $3.1m. Those two were among many incredible decisions made by franchises during the two-day auction.

Is Venkatesh Iyer worth $2.8m?

The most incredible bid was that for all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer, who went back to Kolkata Knight Riders for $2.8 million. The IPL champions were desperate to retain his services, which begs the question why was he not among the five retentions allowed per team, before the auction. And that, too, for a lesser amount.

Similarly, T20 World Cup winner Arshdeep Singh returned to Punjab Kings, who had offloaded their entire squad bar two uncapped names. Arshdeep was snapped up by Punjab for $2.1m, which again raises the question why was he not retained in the first place?

While Arshdeep is a proven T20 star and a world champion, Venkatesh has not delivered anywhere near that level to warrant such attention.

Virat Kohli set to return as RCB captain

There are very few constants in T20 cricket, but you could almost be sure of Royal Challengers Bengaluru disappointing their large fan base with another haphazard recruitment drive. Not this time though.

RCB made deliberate attempts to plug some major gaps in the squad. The recruitment of devastating opener Phil Salt solves long-standing issues at the top, with Virat Kohli now free to play at his own pace. They brought in fast bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to provide control with the ball, and have also picked a number of hard-hitting spin bowling all-rounders.

However, Bengaluru inexplicably did not pursue local star KL Rahul, who had expressed his desire to play at his home and who could have easily solved their batting and even captaincy issues. As the squad stands, Kohli is the only name who can be even considered for the captaincy role, which will make for a blockbuster 2025 season. And even overshadow the craze around MS Dhoni and Chennai Super Kings.

A 13-year-old in IPL

At just 13 years of age, Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the youngest cricketer to be bought in an IPL auction.

The young left-handed batsman from the eastern Indian state of Bihar was taken up by Rajasthan Royals for $130,000.

Suryavanshi made his first-class debut in January aged 12 and was recently selected in the India Under-19 squad that played four-day matches against a touring Australian team in Chennai. He has also scored a triple century in an Under-19 ODI tournament.

However, it would be unfair to expect a 13-year-old to face international bowlers in the nets, let alone in matches. Possibly, he is a star of the future, and Rajasthan want to have him early.

End of the road for David Warner and Prithvi Shaw?

It's not just the big bids that got all the attention. Some famous names were overlooked at the auction, the main ones being Australia's veteran batsman David Warner and India's controversial opener Prithvi Shaw.

Warner has made conflicting statements about his retirement and had struggled in the 2024 season with Delhi. He is 38, so is unlikely to get better or play for much longer, which made the lack of interest in him understandable.

The fall of Shaw, however, is disconcerting as the Mumbai batsman has slipped way down the pecking order very early in his career.

Shaw's clear technical deficiencies, poor fitness record and alleged disciplinary issues have worked against him. He was even removed from his state team. Unless the opening batsman transforms himself drastically, in fitness and temperament, a bright young talent could soon be lost.

Pay correction for local talent

IPL has not always been exactly fair when it comes to pay. Over the years, some players would strike gold in the auction but would fail consistently, while those performing well above their pay grade would have to wait years to command worthy salaries - Jasprit Bumrah and Rinku Singh landed mega million-dollar contracts only this year. Also, some overseas players began to make themselves available only for the mini auction in order to get the biggest contracts due to a limited pool of players.

In order to plug those gaps, the Indian board made it mandatory for all interested players to be available for the main auction. Also, teams have started to shift their focus towards Indian players, realising that a quality local core will consistently beat star-studded teams over a long enough timeline.

During this year's auction, the top five most expensive players were Indian. Overseas talent was in demand but there are few players who franchises desperately need. And many of them had already been retained. Which makes sense as you can only field four overseas players in the XI. Fewer, if you want to.

Also, the BCCI has introduced match fees, which is for the benefit for uncapped players who don't get the top contract due to tournament regulations. All of which made it a good auction cycle for Indian players.