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The Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) mega auction concluded on Monday (Nov 25) with 182 players added to the roster of 10 teams as record money was spent in the two-day bidding event in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah.

A combined INR 6.39 billion ($76mn) was spent on the players as Rishabh Pant emerged as the most expensive buy for a record fee of INR 270mn ($3.2mn).

Franchises also showed interest in uncapped players while some big names were ignored.

Here are some key takeaways from the IPL 2025 mega auction as the countdown begins for the richest league in the world.

Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins were the two most expensive purchases in the IPL 2024 mini-auction, but that was not the case this time.

All 10 franchises were focused on bringing in Indian names, highlighting the value of homegrown talent.

With Pant leading the charge, no foreign player features in the top five most expensive players bought in the IPL 2025 auction.

Shreyas Iyer was sold for INR 260.75mn ($3.1mn) to Punjab Kings, followed by Venkatesh Iyer, who returned to Kolkata Knight Riders for 237.75mn ($2.8mn).

Despite having a tremendous sum in their pocket, no franchise was interested in getting players at the wrong end of the aging scale.

Steve Smith, David Warner, and James Anderson were some big names that went unsold in the mega auction.

Interestingly, India’s Shardul Thakur also featured on the list, which came as a huge surprise for many.

Uncapped Vaibhav Suryavanshi headlines auction
At just 13, uncapped Vaibhav Suryavanshi raised keen interest on day two of the auction after he was bought by Rajasthan Royals for INR 11mn ($130,000).

He became the youngest player ever to be bought in an IPL auction, breaking another record.

Suryavanshi hails from Bihar and is one of the young prospects with high expectations.

Teams remain cautious on squad depth
All franchises went big in the auction but still retained some amount to address injury issues in the squad.

Not all amount was spent by all franchises giving them the edge of purchasing another player in case someone pulls out or is not available due to international duty or injury.

Franchise owners could go for uncapped and unsold players from the auction if they still have funds to strengthen their squads.