Rishabh Pant Becomes Most Expensive Player in IPL History

Rishabh Pant, who previously played for Delhi Capitals across eight seasons, is changing teams for the first time after being acquired by Lucknow Super Giants for 27 crore (£2.54m) at the mega auction in Saudi Arabia, making him the most expensive player in Indian Premier League history. The 27-year-old India wicketkeeper was at the center of a competitive bidding process involving the Super Giants and his previous team, Delhi Capitals. Pant, having rejoined the IPL this year after a 14-month absence due to a car accident, surpassed the record established earlier on the same day when Shreyas Iyer was secured by Punjab Kings for 26.75 crore (£2.51m). Mitchell Starc, an Australian seamer who previously held the record before this auction, was acquired by the Capitals for 11.75 crore (£1m). This figure is considerably less than the 24.75 crore (£2.3m) he commanded last year when signed by Kolkata Knight Riders. Among the first group of players auctioned in Jeddah, Jos Buttler was the sole Englishman. The England white-ball captain and wicketkeeper was secured by Gujarat Titans for 15.75 crore (£1.4m). Jofra Archer, a seamer who was initially excluded from the auction roster but subsequently added back, is set to rejoin Rajasthan Royals for 12.5 crore (£1.18m), a team where he earned player of the tournament honors in 2020-21. From the second group of players, Liam Livingstone was recruited by Royal Challengers Bangalore for 8.75 crore (£796,000), later followed by opener Phil Salt for 11.5 crore (£1m). Harry Brook was re-acquired by Delhi Capitals for 6.25 crore (£590,000). Brook had previously been selected by the Capitals in the mini auction held last December but had withdrawn from the 2024 IPL season after the passing of his grandmother. Additionally, the Capitals secured Australian batter Jake Fraser-McGurk, who scored four half-centuries for them during the previous season, for 9 crore (£850,000). Punjab Kings, under the coaching of Ricky Ponting, brought in Australian all-rounders Glenn Maxwell for 4.2 crore (£390,000) and Marcus Stoinis for 11 crore (£1.03m). In other transactions, spinner Ravichandran Ashwin rejoined Chennai Super Kings for 9.75 crore (£927,000), having previously been with the team from 2008 to 2015. CSK, guided by former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, acquired Black Caps players Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra for 6.25 crore (£590,000) and 4 crore (£378,000) respectively. Notable Indian players also securing contracts included KL Rahul, who moved to Delhi Capitals for 14 crore (£1.35m), and Mohammad Siraj, who went to Gujarat Titans for 12.25 crore (£1.15m). However, Venkatesh Iyer emerged as the highest earner, receiving 23.75 crore (£2.1m). England’s Jonny Bairstow and former Australia opener David Warner are among those players who have not yet been purchased but remain eligible for acquisition. On Sunday, 72 players were selected by the 10 franchises, leaving up to 132 positions still open. The auction’s second phase is scheduled for Monday and will proceed at a faster pace, as teams are submitting lists of desired players overnight. Several England players, including James Anderson, Ben Duckett, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali, Will Jacks, and Gus Atkinson, are still seeking to secure contracts. The following is a breakdown of players acquired by each franchise: Chennai Super Kings: Noor Ahmed, Ravichandran Ashwin, Devon Conway, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar. Delhi Capitals: KL Rahul, Mitchell Starc, T. Natarajan, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Harry Brook, Ashutosh Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Sameer Rizvi, Karun Nair. Gujarat Titans: Jos Buttler, Mohammad Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Mahipal Lomror, Kumar Kushagra, Manav Suthar, Anuj Rawat, Nishant Sindhu. Kolkata Knight Riders: Venkatesh Iyer, Anrich Nortje, Quinton De Kock, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande. Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant, Avesh Khan, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Aryan Juyal. Mumbai Indians: Trent Boult, Naman Dhir, Robin Minz, Karn Sharma. Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Glenn Maxwell, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod. Rajasthan Royals: Jofra Archer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya Singh. Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma. Sunrisers Hyderabad: Ishan Kishan, Mohammad Shami, Harshal Patel, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Chahar, Adam Zampa, Simarjeet Singh, Atharva Taide.