David Warner and Prithvi Shaw went unsold in IPL 2025 auction© BCCI/Sportzpics
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction came to a conclusion on Monday after 577 players were shortlisted for the 2-day event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. While Rishabh Pant became the most expensive buy in the history of the T20 league, going to Lucknow Super Giants for a fee of INR 27 crore, 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the youngest player to be bought in the auction, roped in by Rajasthan Royals. However, the 2-day auction didn’t just make some cricketers crorepatis but also saw some of the top names failing to draw any bid from a franchise.
Batters: Among the batters who went unsold, the names of David Warner, Kane Williamson, Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal raised eyebrows. The four were among the top players in the league at some point in time in their careers. But, franchises seem to have moved on to other options.
Bowlers: Bowlers getting top draws from IPL franchises summed up the IPL auction on day 2 but some failed to draw a single bid. Piyush Chawla, one of the highest wicket-takers in the league’s history, had to remain unsold after no franchise put up the paddle for his services. Musftafizur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Kartik Tyagi, Mujeeb ur Rahman are some of the other top names who went unsold.
All-rounders: All-rounders remain the backbone of the game, proving crucial balance but the arrival of Impact Player rule seems to have reduced their importance. Shardul Thakur didn’t draw a single bid in the auction, neither did Daryl Mitchell, unarguably a star in white-ball cricket.
Wicketkeepers: Among wicket-keepers, Jonny Bairstow‘s empty-handed return from the auction is arguably the most surprising. The England wicket-keeper batter has done wonders in the league over the year, especially for Sunrisers Hyderabad. But, he found no suitors in the auction.
It isn’t all over for these players as they can still be called up by one of the franchises if another player gets injured or pulls out of IPL 2025 season.
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