IPL Auction Live: Teams look to finalise squad on Day 2

Who were the most expensive players on Sunday (and potentially of the IPL 2025 auction)

1. Rishabh Pant to LSG - Rs 27 crore
2. Shreyas Iyer to PBKS - Rs 26.75 crore
3. Venkatesh Iyer to KKR - Rs 23.75 crore
4. Arshdeep Singh to PBKS - Rs 18 crore
5. Yuzvendra Chahal to PBKS - Rs 18 crore
6. Jos Buttler to GT - Rs 15.75 crore
7. KL Rahul to DC - Rs 14 crore
8. Trent Boult to MI - Rs 12.50 crore
9. Josh Hazlewood to RCB - Rs 12.50 crore
10. Jofra Archer to RR - Rs 12.50 crore

WHAT IS ACCELERATED PROCESS?

In a communication to the franchises before the auction, the BCCI wrote, "For your planning purposes please note, subject to timings it is envisaged that the accelerated process will start after player No. 116. The first accelerated process will cover all the players from 117-574. Franchises will be asked to nominate a set number of players from this group by 10 pm on the evening of November 24. Once these players (117-574) have been presented, franchises will be requested to submit the names of players (unpresented/unsold) from all those on the full list of 574 for further accelerated presentation."

Before the auction began, Punjab had INR 110.50 crore following their decision to spend just INR 9.50 crore on retaining two uncapped players -- Shashank Singh for INR 5.5 crore and Prabhsimran Singh for INR 4 crore.

On Monday at the Abadi Al Johar Arena, Punjab splurged INR 88 crore to buy eight players and are now left with INR 22.50 to complete their squad.

The first day of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, saw most of the high-profile names raking in the moolah as the 10 franchises virtually emptied their pockets on Sunday to bag the priority players in their respective shortlist.

Led by Rs 27 crore Lucknow Super Giants spent to buy star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, the sum of money splurged by the franchises came to a whopping Rs 467.95 crore.

A total of 84 players from the roster of 577 were presented on the opening day of the two-day auction at the Abadi Al Johar Arena in Jeddah. Out of these 68 got sold, while four were retained through the Right-to-Match card.

At the other end of the spectrum, Mitchell Starc, the most expensive player last season at Rs 24.75 crore, was sold to Delhi Capitals for Rs 11.75 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.

Among the second set of players, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal drew a winning bid of Rs 18 crore from Punjab Kings. Chahal, who was dropped from the Indian team despite not getting a game in its victorious T20 World Cup campaign, was released by Rajasthan Royals ahead of the mega auction. However, his latest price tag suggests he remains a sought after player in the IPL.

Chahal has taken 205 wickets in the IPL and remains a much sought-after property, as his price tag suggests.

Expressing his excitement to join Punjab Kings squad, Chahal told Jio Cinema, “I have a great bond with Shreyas and Arshdeep and I am looking forward to playing with them. At the same time, I will get to learn a lot from Ricky Ponting. Let’s focus on winning the trophy Go Punjab.”

Ponting also explained the reasoning behind going for Chahal: “Yuzi is the highest quality Indian spinner in the auction, so, we wanted to fill certain gaps with the best players we possibly could. And yes, we spent a bit of money to get there, but what we're trying to do is rebuild this franchise basically from the ground up and you can't do that without the best players."

First player out of the bag to get the IPL 2025 auction underway was left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh. PBKS used their RTM Card to retain his services for the 2025 and beyond season(s).

“I am very happy to be back in Punjab. I hope we win the trophy this year,” said Arshdeep.

While talking about getting back Arshdeep, Ponting said, “We had certain targets coming into the auction as every team does. Arshdeep was obviously the first one. He's been in our franchise for a number of years. I was really keen to get him back. Left-arm fast bowler, obviously, with a great skill set with the new ball and the old ball and, you know, one of India's leading wicket-takers in T20 cricket. So he was a perfect fit for us to come back into the Punjab Kings.”

Punjab Kings coach Ricky Ponting said on Shreyas Iyer, who he had spent time with during their years at Delhi Capitals: “I think we knew Shreyas, Pant and KL Rahul were going to attract big money. I wanted to work with Shreyas. I've worked with him before and he is a great guy and a great player. He'll be a great leader for our team if we decide to go that way, which I'm pretty sure we probably will. And obviously, he was the championship-winning captain last year. So there are lots of great things about bringing him to Punjab.”

On joining PBKS, Iyer said, "Elated to join the Punjab Kings family. I can’t wait to kickstart the season."

The IPL Mega Auction will continue on Day 2 at the Abadi Al Johar Arena in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from 3:30 PM IST.

On Day 1, a total of 84 players were up for grabs and 72 were sold to respective franchises for Rs 467.95 crore. The auction process will resume on the second day from Set No. 13, starting with Player No. 84 (now 85), Mayank Agarwal.

The auction will go up to Player No. 116 (now 117) in Set No. 17, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth.

Following this, the accelerated auction process will begin in the second half of the day. It would require the franchises to submit their picks of players they want to go in the hat for bidding process.

The 10 franchises spent the most on Rishabh Pant on the opening day of the IPL mega auction with Shreyas Iyer briefly becoming the most expensive player in IPL history. Not long after, Lucknow Super Giants secured Pant for a staggering Rs 27 crore. Meanwhile, Venkatesh Iyer emerged as the unexpected highlight of the auction on Sunday, as teams eagerly spent big on premier Indian talent.

Venkatesh, who contributed to Shreyas’ successful KKR team, returned to the franchise for an impressive Rs 23.75 crore after they used their Right to Match (RTM) card to bring him back, having initially chosen not to retain him.

In the early rounds, Shreyas Iyer had already made headlines by becoming the first player to eclipse Mitchell Starc's previous record, with Punjab Kings investing Rs 26.75 crore to potentially make him their captain, only for Pant to surpass him with a bid of Rs 27 crore from LSG.