Revived generational talent Rishabh Pant edged out Shreyas Iyer to emerge as the priciest purchase in IPL's history as Lucknow Super Giants pocketed him for a winning bid of Rs 27 crore, while Venkatesh Iyer emerged as the surprise show-stopper as teams expectedly went berserk splurging money for marquee Indian players at the mega auction here on Sunday.
Shreyas, who had led Kolkata Knight Riders to the title earlier this year, and Delhi Capitals' icon Pant, were the beneficiaries of getting available at the auction after falling out with their respective teams.
Venkatesh had also been a member of Shreyas' victorious KKR outfit and the franchise had paid a staggering Rs 23.75 crore to get him back via the Right to Match card after not retaining him.
A big-hitting all-rounder, who has become an integral part of the KKR setup over the years, gained from an intense bidding battle between Kolkata and Royal Challengers Bengaluru as he ended with a massive sum.
On the other hand, Shreyas was the first one to leave behind Mitchell Starc as the costliest IPL buy while cash-rich Punjab Kings spent Rs 26.75 crore to sign the Indian's potential future captain ahead of Pant surpassing his fellow countryman by collecting Rs 25 lakh more from LSG.
The two former DC teammates have overcome adversity in the last couple of years but shown remarkable resilience and courage to bounce back.
Pant bounced back from all odds in a life-threatening car accident in 2022 and came back to play successful international cricket while Shreyas bounced back from exclusion from the list of BCCI central contracts to lead KKR to their third IPL trophy earlier this year.
Delhi Capitals exercised Right To Match to buy Pant back at Rs 20.75 crore but LSG upped the bid to Rs 27 crore and former decided not to match that.
Both Shreyas and Pant would play on foreign soil as their respective new teams will enjoy home advantage during the first leg of IPL 2025, commencing on March 14.
"I haven't spoken to Shreyas Iyer yet on captaincy. I called him before the auction, but he didn't pick up. He's been a successful IPL captain, I'm delighted to work with him again," said new Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting who spent time with Iyer at Delhi Capitals.
Shreyas responded to his move to PBKS by being expectedly "elated" and said he is looking forward to the stint.
PBKS, who went into the auction with the maximum purse -- Rs 110.5 crore, -- had the resources to go after the players they wanted including Shreyas, Yuzvendra Chahal (Rs 18 crore), Arshdeep Singh (Rs 18 crore) and Marcus Stonis (Rs 11 crore).
The wallet is far deeper now-at Rs 120 crore for each franchise, Rs 30 crore higher than the previous auction three years ago. Records were poised to be broken, and they were.
Rajasthan Royals, which retained six players, had the lowest purse and thus the lowest to spend -- Rs 41 crore -- and they were spectators for most of day one. The lone buys were injury-prone pacer Jofra Archer (Rs 12.5 crore) and Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana (Rs 4.40 crore).
Chahal gets good bid; Starc's fortunes dip
Among the second set of players, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal drew an impressive winning bid of Rs 18 crore from Punjab Kings while former LSG captain KL Rahul turned out to be a bargain buy for Delhi Capitals at Rs 14 crore.
Chahal was released by Rajasthan Royals ahead of the mega auction although he did not play a game for India and still found his way back into the Indian team despite not playing a game in India's successful T20 World Cup. His latest price tag, however, suggests he remains a sought-after player for the IPL.
India pacer Mohammed Shami, who recently made a comeback from injury, was bought by SunRisers Hyderabad for Rs 10 crore.
Among others, Punjab Kings retained left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh for Rs 18 crore via RTM while South African speedster Kagiso Rabada, who was released by Punjab Kings, went to Gujarat Titans for Rs 10.75 crore.
Arshdeep was the first player to be sold in the mega auction and he ended up fetching the same price that Punjab Kings would have had to pay to retain him as their leading player.
Australian veteran Starc got a much lower price than last year's Rs 24.75 crore and was sold to Delhi Capitals for Rs 11.75 crore this time. England's Jos Buttler went to Gujarat Titans for Rs 15.75 crore.
"Starc is a match-winner, he is a wicket-taker and we couldn't be happier. And with KL Rahul, again somebody who we believe is a bankable player, will give you runs each season," said DC head coach Hemang Badani.
Warner, Padikkal unsold
After the lunch break, it was Venkatesh's hefty price tag that attracted the most attention.
The other notable redemption was India veteran R Ashwin returning to the franchise of his home city -- Chennai Super Kings.
CSK paid Rs 9.75 crore for Ashwin, who broke into the India squad following his exploits at the franchise under Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra were two good buy backs for CSK in the session, going for Rs 6.25 crore and Rs four crore respectively.
Destructive Australian batter Jake Fraser McGurk returned to Delhi Capitals for Rs nine crore after the franchise exercised its RTM.
However, IPL stalwart David Warner had no takers on the opening day of the auction as he went unsold at a base price of Rs two crore. Similar was the case of Indian batter Devdutt Padikkal. They might come back in the accelerated auction on Monday.
The end of the day featured the high payday of fast bowlers. Those who got it were Josh Hazlewood (Rs 12.5 crore, RCB), Prasidh Krishna (Rs 9.5 crore, Gujarat Titans), Avesh Khan (Rs 9.75 crore, LSG), Trent Boult (Rs 12.5 crore, Mumbai Indians) and Archer.
This is the second time an Indian Premier League auction is being conducted outside India after the event in Dubai last year.
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