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IPL 2025: Who Will Be The Highest Paid Player From The Marquee Set In Mega Auction?

Bhargav Dixit

IPL 2025 auction will be held later this month. [Source: @CricCrazyJohns/X]IPL 2025 auction will be held later this month. [Source: @CricCrazyJohns/X]

With as many as 1,000 players not making the cut for Indian Premier League 2024 mega auction, a total of 574 players have been shortlisted to go under the hammer. The two-day event in Jeddah, only the second instance of an IPL auction happening outside India, will commence with a marquee list comprising 12 names.

Including these 12 names, a total of 81 players have registered themselves under the highest base price category of INR 2 crore.

This marquee list is further divided into two sets of six each. While 10 players were part of one marquee list during the last mega auction in 2022, IPL 2018 auction had seen 16 players grouped into two sets of eight each.


List Of Marquee Players In First Set

Jos Buttler

Sixth-highest IPL run-scorer among overseas players, England captain Jos Buttler is a tried and tested campaigner in the biggest T20 league in the world. Buttler, despite his knack of playing match-defining innings much like his two centuries last season, isn’t expected to be among the most expensive players in the marquee list.

While his potential was observed yet again during the second West Indies-England T20I earlier this month and there is no doubt whatsoever regarding him finding a franchise, injury concerns at the age of 34 will prevent him from finding a spot among the highest-earners.

Shreyas Iyer

Not part of India’s T20I squad primarily because of how his batting approach doesn’t align with the modern-day requirements of the shortest format, Shreyas Iyer is the first player who has been released despite lifting the IPL silverware as a captain last season.

Keen to “test his market value”, Iyer might also not be among the top-earners in the first set if selected on batting alone. However, with him being on the seventh spot in the list of most IPL matches as a captain, his price could witness a surge due to his experience of leading a couple of franchises across 70 matches spanned across five seasons. Interestingly, both those franchises in Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals are in need of  a captain.

Rishabh Pant

India wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant, who replaced Iyer as a captain at Delhi in 2021, joins him in the first marquee set four years later. Arguably the most shocking release ahead of his auction, the left-handed batter could emerge as the highest-earner not only among the first marquee set but among all the 574 registered players.

Notwithstanding the fact that Pant is yet to crack the T20 format as a batter, he could fetch a gigantic sum because of how he can perform additional responsibilities of a captain and a wicket-keeper. The thing with Pant is that he’s an absolute superstar both on and off the field. With his overall personality and fan-following set to accompany him, a franchise could further mint money from brand sponsorships with him being the titular face.

Therefore, expect teams to big aggressively for him. With former Australia captain and DC head coach Ricky Ponting, a thorough admirer of Pant, joining Punjab Kings as a head coach, there are widespread rumours around the franchise looking to acquire the left-handed batter at all costs.

Kagiso Rabada

Sixth-highest IPL wicket-taker among overseas bowlers, South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada didn’t have the best of seasons in 2023 and 2024 after finishing the third-highest wicket-taker in 2022. With his 18 wickets across 17 IPL 2023 and 2024 matches coming at an average and economy rate of 33.56 and 9.29 respectively, even Rabada isn’t expected to top this list.

Arshdeep Singh

If not Pant, Arshdeep Singh has to be the most shocking release ahead of the 18th season of the IPL. As a result, just like Pant, there are high chances of the Indian left-arm pacer to earn the most opulent sum among this group.

Third-highest T20 wicket-taker since the start of 2022 and second-highest since 2023, Arshdeep, who at 25, is absolutely injury-free, is almost guaranteed to partake in all the matches of an IPL season. Thus, further increasing his chances of being a trending commodity in Saudi Arabia later this month.

On the verge of becoming India’s highest T20I wicket-taker, there are high chances of Kings buying Arshdeep back. In addition to their four RTMs, PBKS also have a whopping INR 110.5 crore budget to buy whosoever they want. Therefore, don’t rule them out bidding for someone like an Arshdeep even at an unrealistic price.

Mitchell Starc

Player of the Match in IPL 2024 Qualifier 1 and Final, Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc wouldn’t be able to replicate his record-breaking IPL 2024 price of INR 24.75 crore. The same has nothing to do with his ability but all to do with the fact that this isn’t going to be a mini-auction.

Much like Buttler, Starc’s age of 34 could also go against him especially in a mega auction as teams might not want to bid a sumptuous amount on someone of his age for a three-year period.