IPL Mega Auction – Everything You Need to Know

Hear! Hear! Hear! Ocbscores brings you the latest updates on the most anticipated event of the Cricketing Calendar, The IPL Auction! Our experts have done some gold-standard research on the upcoming first Indian Premier League mega event and have brought together all the details that you need to know. Read along and brace yourselves to catch the excitement!

When will the IPL Mega Auction be held?

The IPL mega auction will take place on November 24th and 25th. The proceedings will begin at 3:00 pm IST on both days.

Where will the IPL auction take place?

The auction will be held at the Abady Al Johar Arena, popularly known as the Benchmark Arena, in the port city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Where can we watch the auction?

The mega auction will be streamed live on the Jio Cinema app and can also be watched on the Star Sports Network.

Want to discover more? Read our review of the best app for IPL betting or check out our IPL betting odds, where we bring you the best rated operators, top markets and best prices.

How many players will be available for the IPL auction?

A total of 1574 players, including Indian and overseas players, registered for the auction. The IPL Governing Council has shortlisted 574 players from the initial registration for the final pool. This pool includes 366 Indian players and 208 overseas players.

How many spots are up for grab for the players?

Each franchise can have a squad consisting of a minimum of 18 and a maximum of 25 players. So a maximum of 250 players can play in this edition. As the franchises have retained 46 players together, a maximum of 204 can be bought at the auction.

How many players have each team retained?

Each team was allowed to retain a maximum of 6 players before the auction. At the most 5 capped players could be retained. A team could also retain a maximum of 2 uncapped players.

Here is a list of the players retained by each franchise

Mumbai Indians

The Mumbai Indians have retained 5 capped players

Sunrisers Hyderabad

The Sunrisers Hyderabad have retained 5 capped players

Chennai Super Kings

The Chennai Super Kings have retained 4 capped and 1 uncapped players

Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have retained 2 capped and 1 uncapped players.

Delhi Capitals

The Delhi Capitals have retained 3 capped and 1 uncapped players

Kolkata Knight Riders

KKR has utilized its full quota by retaining 6 players

Rajasthan Royals

The Rajasthan Royals have retained 5 capped and 1 uncapped players

Gujarat Titans

The Gujarat Titans have retained 3 capped and 2 uncapped players

Lucknow Super Giants

The Lucknow Super Giants have retained 3 capped and 2 uncapped players

Punjab Kings

The Punjab Kings have retained 2 uncapped players

What is the Right to Match card?

Franchises that have not retained their full quota of 6 players can fill the vacant slots using the Right to (RTM) option. While this rule was first introduced before the 2014 IPL, there are a couple of tweaks this time.

Earlier, the franchises could use only 3 RTM cards during the auction, but that limit has been scrapped. They can now use this option up to 6 times, provided they have not retained any players.

PBKS can use 4 RTM cards in the upcoming auction as they have retained only 2 players. The Royal Challengers Bangalore have 3 cards, the Delhi Capitals have 2 cards, while LSG, MI, CSK, GT, and SRH have 1 card each. The Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals have both retained 6 players each and, hence, will not be able to use the RTM option in this auction.

Another change in the RTM rule is that in previous auctions, once a player receives the highest bid, the previous franchise could pay the same amount and retain the player for the upcoming season. However, in this auction, if the old franchise uses the RTM card, the franchise that had made the highest bid in the first place will get one more opportunity to raise the bid. If that happens, the old franchise must match the new bid to buy the player.

What is a marquee player?

Typically, the best players available at the auction are designated as Marquee Players. These cricketers are expected to generate the most fierce bidding and generally attract the highest salary.

There are 12 marquee players who will go under the hammer during this auction, divided into 2 sets.

The first set of players, known as M1, consists of Jos Buttler, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Mitchell Starc, Kagiso Rabada, and Arshdeep Singh.

Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Liam Livingstone, KL Rahul, and David Miller will be part of the second set, or the M2 set.

Except for David Miller, all marquee players have set a base price of ₹ 2 crores. Miller’s base price is 1.5 crores.

How many players can each team buy at the auction?

As mentioned earlier, each team is allowed to have a maximum squad size of 25 players. Based on the retentions announced, KKR and RR can buy a maximum of 19 players while SRH, CSK, MI, LSG, and  GT can buy 20 players each. The Delhi Capitals can buy 21 players while RCB can buy 22. With 23 vacant slots, PBKS can potentially buy the most number of players.

How much money will each team have to spend during the IPL auction?

Each team has a purse size of 120 crore rupees, which they can spend on the salary of the players during the upcoming season. The money spent on retentions has been deducted from each franchise’s purse and they can spend the remaining amount at the auction. Here is how much each team can spend in the upcoming auction

Which players are likely to receive the highest bids in the upcoming auction?

Each IPL auction held in the past has seen record-breaking salaries being offered to players who the franchises feel could bring the trophy home. With quite a few marquee players up for grabs, this auction could see some frenzied bidding as teams look to strengthen their squad. Here is a list of some of the players who could see record-breaking bids.

Rishabh Pant

At the top of the list is Rishabh Pant. Pant has been a part of the Delhi squad ever since his IPL debut in 2016. However, the team owners decided not to retain him for the upcoming season and that has brought him back into the auction pool.

Rishabh Pant is an X-factor, thanks to his swashbuckling batting skills, and is a must-buy for any team that is looking to strengthen its middle order. Pant is likely to fetch at least 20 Cr in this auction and could also potentially break the record for the most expensive IPL buy ever.

Shreyas Iyer

Iyer led the KKR to its 3^rd IPL trophy in the previous edition but has not been retained. Iyer is not only a dependable batsman at the top of the order but also has excellent leadership qualities. He was bought for ₹12.25 CR by KKR during the 2022 auction but could attract a much bigger bid here.

Mohammed Shami

Despite battling multiple injuries over the past year, including one that caused him to miss the 2024 season, Shami remains a sought-after fast bowler in the league. He won the Purple Cap in the 2023 season, picking up 28 wickets.

Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc holds the record for the most expensive buy in the IPL's history. Before the 2024 edition, the KKR bought him for a whopping 24.75 crores. He played an important role in helping his team lift the title. He has since been released and could fetch another big salary.