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Shreyas Iyer: The IPL 2025 Mega Auction has begun, and it has already given probably the most expensive player in the IPL history. With increased purse value, teams have shown more efforts to get their desired players on board. That’s what happened when Shreyas Iyer was available for the auction.

A few franchises showed interest in him. It was started with the Kolkata Knight Riders, who were willing to get back their captain but competed with the Punjab Kings until the bid reached INR 10 crore. But as soon as the Knight Riders left, the Delhi Capitals got back to the missing war. 

After that, it was something remarkable between two franchises. Both teams were looking to find a player to lead their team in the IPL 2024. That is why it was an intense bidding war between DC and PBKS, which even went past INR 20 crore in no time. Notably, the most expensive player in an IPL auction was Mitchell Starc, who bagged INR 22.50 crore last season.

But the bid to get Shreyas Iyer went past that amount. It kept going up and even crossed the 25 crores. Finally, it was the Punjab Kings that ended up winning the bid and signing Shreyas Iyer for a record-breaking price of INR 26.75 crore, making him the costliest player in IPL history.

Notably, Shreyas Iyer has immense experience leading the franchise, as he has led the Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders in the past and led KKR to win the title last season. PBKS needed a captain, and Iyer comes with this skillset.

And not to forget, PBKS also roped in Ricky Ponting as their head coach, and Iyer was the captain of DC when Ponting was with the franchise. So, this duo is back once again for the IPL fans. This was the second signing for PBKS as they also got bacK Arshdeep Singh by using the Right to Match card on him at a price of INR 18 crore.

Iyer remained as the most costliest player for just a few moments because Rishabh Pant went past him, which was expected. As soon as Rishabh Pant’s name came for the auction, there was a buzz around the franchises. Lucknow Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Sunrisers Hyderabad went hard after the Indian star.

Though LSG had it done, when asked to DC about the RTM card, they were happy to use it on Rishabh Pant. However, LSG broke that bid and decided to go for Pant by spending INR 27 crore, which was successful. And Rishabh Pant became the costliest player in the IPL auction history, surpassing Iyer. Pant might be leading LSG in the IPL 2025.

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