Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
The highly anticipated IPL 2025 mega auction, which will decide the fate of 577 shortlisted players, is currently underway at the Abady Al Johar Arena in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. With just 204 slots up for grabs, including 70 overseas ones, only a select few out of 366 Indian and 208 overseas players will be picked by the Indian Premier League (IPL) teams for the 2025 season. Shreyas Iyer, who is one of the sought after Indian players in the mega auction, has been signed by Punjab Kings for INR 26.50 Cr.
Iyer, who was with the defending champions in IPL 2024, kickstarted the bidding process at INR 2 Crore.Soon afterwards, Punjab Kings joined the battle. Things escalated with Delhi Capitals joining the bid at INR 7.5 Crore. However, KKR bowed out of the race, Punjab Kings returned into the race at INR 10 Crore. The bid for the Indian batter crossed the INR 20 Crore mark with Punjab and Delhi still in the battle, but it were the Punjab-based franchise which finally secured his services for INR 26.75 Cr. With this Iyer went onto to become the most expensive player in the history of the tournament, breaking the record of Mitchell Starc, who was brought by KKR for INR 24.75 Cr.
Shreyas Iyer’s IPL performance over the years
Shreyas Iyer made his IPL debut in 2015, and so far has played 115 matches. In his maiden year, he was roped in by Delhi Daredevils (Delhi Capitals) for INR 2.6 Crore and had a long stay with them till 2021. During the 2015 auction, Iyer became the most expensive uncapped player in the tournament. In 2021, he was roped in by KKR as they were eyeing a young and dynamic skipper.
KKR bought Iyer in the 2022 mega auction and was appointed as the captain for the forthcoming edition. In the last edition, he scored a total of 351 runs with the highest score of 58* runs and an average of 39.00. The 30-year-old led the side to their third IPL trophy in 2024, but despite that, the franchise shockingly released him.
