The IPL 2025 auction, held on November 24 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, witnessed several prominent players experiencing significant reductions in their contract values compared to previous seasons.
While the big news was around the hefty record fees for Rishabh Pant (27 crores to Lucknow Super Giants) and Shreyas Iyer (26.75 crores to Punjab Kings), several big players touted to go big in the auction also got a major pay cut.
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Here we take a look at some of them from the IPL 2025 auction.
KL Rahul, a consistent performer in the IPL, was released by Lucknow Super Giants ahead of the 2025 auction. Delhi Capitals acquired him for ₹14 crore, marking a ₹3 crore decrease from his previous contract.
Rahul was one of the players expected to go for a whopping sum of money, with RCB strongly backed to bring him back for a third stint. However, surprisingly, RCB chose not to go big on Rahul and Delhi Capitals pouched the Indian star for a cheap rate.
This reduction in his price could be due to his performance in the 2024 season, where he scored 520 runs, but at a strike rate of 136.13, with his public spat with Sanjeev Goenka becoming the toast of frontline headings in newspapers.
CHECK OUT: IPL 2025 Auction LIVE: List of Players SOLD to All 10 Teams, Price, and Full Squads
English all-rounder Liam Livingstone, known for his explosive batting, saw his contract value decrease by ₹2.75 crore.
RCB secured his services for ₹8.75 crore, down from the ₹11.5 crore he earned with Punjab Kings. Factors influencing this pay cut could include his performances dropping in the last IPL season.
However, with his all-round skillsets, he remains a good overseas pick and there’s a section of fans who believe RCB got a perfect player as replacement for Glenn Maxwell at a cheap rate.
Glenn Maxwell himself experienced a significant pay cut, with his new contract at Punjab Kings valued at ₹4.2 crore—a reduction of ₹6.8 crore from his previous deal with RCB.
RCB chose not to exercise the RTM option for Maxwell and the Australian returned for another stint at Punjab, having played for them a long while back.
The substantial decrease in Maxwell’s pay reflect considerations franchises have around his inconsistent performances and recent form. That said, Maxwell coils still be a hugely influential overseas player even this upcoming season.
Indian batter Rahul Tripathi’s move to Chennai Super Kings came with a pay cut of ₹5.1 crore. His new contract is valued at ₹3.4 crore, down from the ₹8.5 crore he received from Sunrisers Hyderabad.
While Tripathi’s aggressive strokeplay made him popular in T20s, the emergence of quite a few young Indian talent last season who could replicate the same pushed the older Tripathi down the pecking order for several franchises.
CSK, known for backing experienced players, went after Tripathi with the management at CSK having previously worked with him at Rising Pune Supergiant.
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Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan, who was a high-profile signing for Mumbai Indians, saw his contract value decrease by ₹4 crore.
Sunrisers Hyderabad acquired him for ₹11.25 crore to pack into an already crowded batting line-up. This pay cut is a significant blow to Kishan, who has fallen out of favour with the Indian team as well across formats.
While MI pursued him for a bit in the IPL 2025 auction on day one, they eventually settled for the likes of Robin Minz as the wicketkeeper batter with SRH adding Kishan as another strong option in their top-order that already has Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma.
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