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The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction is set to take place in Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia, on Nov 24-25, as per reports.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is, thus, set to host the IPL auction outside India for the second time in a row, and Riyadh is being considered for the two-day mega event.

The previous auction took place in Dubai. A final decision, along with dates, is expected to be out soon.

However, a potential issue before the BCCI authorities is that the proposed dates coincide with India's five-match Test series opener versus Australia, in Perth.

The first Test begins on Nov 22. Notably, the match will be shown on Disney Star, i.e. the official broadcasters of the cash-rich league. Thus, all parties want to avoid any overlap.

Although due to the time difference with Australia, there is unlikely to be any clash. The auction is expected to commence in the afternoon, as per Indian Standard Time (IST).

Apart from Riyadh, the Indian cricket board have also narrowed down Jeddah as another option but Riyadh is likely to act as the host city for the event.

Earlier, it was being reported that BCCI have explored Dubai, Singapore and London as options.

At one stage, even Vienna was being considered, however, Saudi Arabia is believed to have been finalised.

Before the auction, all the ten franchises have to submit their respective player retention lists, with Oct 31 evening (by 5 PM, IST) being the deadline.

All eyes are on the retention lists as some big players might be released and can go under the hammer. Moreover, MS Dhoni's IPL future will also become clear.

The BCCI, however, is yet to finalise a venue in Riyadh that can accomodate owners and other representatives of the 10 franchises along with the broadcast teams of Disney Plus Hotstar and JioCinema, the TV and digital broadcasters respectively.

The BCCI had earlier set 31 October as the deadline for the 10 franchises to finalise their retention list. As per the IPL Governing Council (GC), teams can retain up to six players from their existing squads through a combination of retention and Right to Match (RTM), which has been brought back for this auction with a slight modification.

Australia captain Pat Cummins and pace colleague Mitchell Starc had smashed records in the last IPL auction, going to Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 20.5 crore and Rs 24.75 crore respectively, the latter becoming the most expensive player in IPL history.