Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the only player to breach the ₹10 crore mark on the second day of the mega auction at the Abady Al Johar Arena in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Monday.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru swooped in late with their first bid of ₹10.75 crore following an intense bidding battle between Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants. The two-time Purple Cap winner thus reunited with the franchise he played for in the second edition of the IPL in 2009.
West Indies T20 captain Rovman Powell returned to KKR for ₹1.5 crore. Manish Pandey, who featured in only one match last season, also reunited with KKR.
The defending champions made some aggressive buys towards the end of the auction after ensuring the services of all-rounder Moeen Ali, formerly with CSK, for ₹2 crore.
Fast bowler Umran Malik was also bought for ₹75 lakh. Malik played just one match in 2024 with Sunrisers Hyderabad and have been battling fitness issues.
Ajinkya Rahane was also back in KKR colours after spending a few seasons with CSK. He was sold at his base price of ₹1.5 crore.
Left-arm finger-spinner Anukul Roy too returned to KKR for ₹40 lakh.
KKR look a settled unit after the auction but injuries may land them in trouble since they don’t have adequate replacements for every position.
The pacers were in focus with Deepak Chahar the other big earner as Mumbai Indians snapped him up for ₹9.25 crore after Chennai Super Kings made a late attempt to winhim back.
Delhi Capitals used an RTM option to bring back Mukesh Kumar after Punjab Kings hiked up his value to ₹8 crore. Akash Deep toowas signed for an identical fee by the Lucknow Super Giants.
Among the overseas quicks, Kolkata Knight Riders roped in Australian Spencer Johnson for ₹2.80 crore. Punjab Kings joined in the bidding late and managed to raise his base price of ₹2 crore before KKR clinched the deal for the left-arm pacer.
Marco Jansen will play for Punjab Kings after his price zoomed to ₹7 crore. They thus managed to stave off the challenge from Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans.
There were several unsold players, including New Zealand’s Kane Williamson and India all-rounder Shardul Thakur.
Teenager in limelight
Thirteen-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi from Bihar took the cricketing world by storm after he was signed for ₹1.10 crore by Rajasthan Royals.
Suryavanshi is the youngest player ever to be signed in an IPL auction.
Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals got engaged in a bidding war for the youngster, who hails from Samastipur.
Suryavanshi smashed 104 off 62 balls in the Youth Test against Australia in Chennai recently.
