Mumbai: Shreyas Iyer may be out of the Indian team currently, but the dashing right-handed batter’s stars shone bright at the mega IPL player auction at Jeddah on Sunday. The man who led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the title last season was acquired by Punjab Kings for a whopping price of Rs 26.75 crore after some hectic bidding involving five teams.
It surpassed the previous record of Australian pacer Mitchell Starc’s Rs 24.75 price tag paid by KKR.
However, Iyer’s record lasted no more than around half an hour as Rishabh Pant fetched a mind-boggling bid of Rs 27 crore. Lucknow Super Giants gobbled up the prized acquisition that is India’s wicketkeeper-batter to strengthen their team for IPL 2025.
Arshdeep Singh, the first player to go under the hammer, fetched an impressive Rs 18 crore. The left-arm pacer was acquired by Preity Zinta co-owned Punjab Kings.
South African pacer Kagiso Rabada was bought by Gujarat Titans (GT) for Rs 10.75 crore. Former champions GT also got England star Jos Buttler for a price of Rs 15.75 crore.
Starc’s ‘value’ took a nosedive as Delhi Capitals acquired him for Rs 11.75 crore, less than half the price KKR had bought him for in the 2024 IPL season.
