RCB bag Bhuvneshwar at INR 10.75 Cr as pacers earn big

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the first and only player to breach the INR 10 crore mark on the second day of the IPL 2025 mega auction after Royal Challengers Bengaluru swooped late with their first bid of INR 10.75 crores following a quickfire bidding battle between Mumbai Indians and the Lucknow Super Giants for the two-time Purple Cap winner.

RCB, who entered the second day of the auction with the largest remaining purse of INR 30.65 crores, were reunited with a player who they'd incidentally handed a T20 debut to during the 2009 edition of the now defunct Champions League T20 tournament.

Indian fast bowlers were in vogue for much of the the second day's proceedings with Deepak Chahar the other big earner as Mumbai Indians snapped him up for INR 9.25 crores, staving off a late attempt from Chennai Super Kings, who attempted to re-sign the seamer they'd signed for INR 14 crores in the last mega auction. Delhi Capitals used an RTM option to bring back Mukesh Kumar even after Punjab Kings hiked up his value to INR 8 crore while Akash Deep was signed on for an identical fee by the Lucknow Super Giants.

Among overseas quicks, Marco Jansen was the subject of a INR 7 crore bid from Punjab Kings, who held off Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans to land the services of the South African, who also demonstrated his big-hitting abilities in the recent series against India.

Given the dwindling finances, the second day of the auction saw franchises be more calculative with their bids and therefore somewhat conservative. Several players including David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Shardul Thakur and Prithvi Shaw were passed on by teams and several others were picked up at base prices as teams looked to service specific squad requirements. However, the all-rounders set still saw some competitive bidding with RCB signing Krunal Pandya for INR 5.75 crores after a protracted battle with Rajasthan Royals. The same two teams also competed eagerly for Nitish Rana, with the Royals winning the bid for the former KKR captain with an INR 4.2 crores bid.

Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings were reunited with Sam Curran with a winning bid of INR 2.4 crores, down from the INR 18.5 crores that Punjab Kings splurged to sign the England all-rounder in the 2023 auction. Another captain from the 2024 season, Faf du Plessis, found a home at Delhi Capitals, who signed him at his base price for INR 2 crores.

Mumbai Indians bolstered their bowling attack by acquiring the services of highly-rated Afghan spinner Allah Ghazanfar for INR 4.8 crores while Washington Sundar was signed at a cut price of INR 3.2 crores by Gujarat Titans in another indication of the diminishing value of all-rounders post the introduction of the Impact Player rule.

The case of the RTM declined

The highlight of the early accelerated round of bidding was the acquisition of Will Jacks for INR 5.25 crores by Mumbai Indians. It was anticipated that RCB would use one of their available RTMs for the Englishman, who blazed a hundred for them in Ahmedabad last season, but curiously opted against it. The MI think-tank were delighted with the turn of events and owner Akash Ambani even walked over to the RCB table to exchange pleasantries.

In something of a swap, RCB acquired a couple of former MI finishers themselves in Romario Shepherd and Tim David for INR 1.5 crores and INR 3 crores respectively. They also used an RTM option to bring back Swapnil Singh for INR 50 lakh.

Meanwhile, CSK were also able to land the signing of Anshul Kamboj for INR 3.4 crores. The Haryana seamer recently picked up all 10 wickets in an innings in a Ranji Trophy game against Kerala and was also the leading wicket-taker in the seasoning-opening Duleep Trophy. The five-time champions added another overseas seamer in Nathan Ellis after hiking his price to INR 2 crores, taking it beyond the valuation of PBKS, who had signalled an intention to use an RTM on him.

The late bidding battle and a 13-year-old signing

Amid a bevy of picks in the accelerated round, mostly at base prices, there was a frenzied battle to acquire the services of Delhi batter Priyansh Arya. Punjab Kings outlasted MI, DC and another late push from RCB to sign the 23-year-old for INR 3.8 crores. Arya turned heads when he hit six sixes in an over of North Delhi Strikers spinner Manan Bharadwaj in the Delhi Premier League 2024. Arya also top-scored for Delhi in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last season and carried forward his excellent form to the ongoing season, hammering 102 in the team's season opener against Uttar Pradesh.

The two-day event which began with the record signing of Rishabh Pant saw another record set right at the end when Rajasthan Royals signed 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi for INR 1.1 crores after a battle with Delhi Capitals, making him the youngest player signed in auction history. A left-handed batter and slow left-arm spinner, Suryavanshi became the second-youngest player to feature in the Ranji Trophy when he made his debut for Bihar against Mumbai in January earlier this year. He was picked for the Under-19 Asia Cup and also hit a 62-ball 104 against the Australia Under-19 in October this year.

In all, the two-day exercise saw a total of INR 639.15 crores spent for the acquisition of 182 players. Of those, 62 were overseas players and 85 uncapped. interestingly, teams used only 8 of the 14 RTMs available.