The world's biggest and most lucrative T20 franchise league is starting another 3 year cycle with its customary 'mega' auction.

The 10 franchises retained anywhere between 2 and 6 players each but released the bulk of their squads back onto the open market meaning that 204 slots need filling across the mammoth 2 day auction. In total, over 1500 players registered an interest in being part of the process but that number was ultimately whittled down to 577 based on feedback from the teams themselves.

AI generated image using Microsoft Co-Pilot

Day 1 saw some massive spending as the 3 highest fees ever paid at auction went to Indian start Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer. However, with 132 spots to still to fill across all the squads, there is still plenty of work to do for the 10 franchises as they look to build a team capable of challenging over the next 3 years.

Here's where they've spent their money so far and what they need to do in Day 2.

CSK

CSK have, as they so often do, gone for the tried and trusted. Conway and Ravindra were brought back and will probably compete for a single spot in the side.

Perhaps the big surprise was the 9.75Cr paid for Ravi Ashwin who has enjoyed many a fine season at the Chepauk in the distant past but who took just 9 wickets at an economy of 8.49 last season, his worst in an IPL campaign for Rajasthan in 2024.

Rahul Tripathi has presumably come into fill the Rahane role (that is assuming that CSK don't re-sign him tomorrow!) and he'll hope that like Rahane, the move to Chennai can revitalise his IPL career which has stalled over the last couple of seasons.

While spin has always played an important factor in CSK's IPL success, it's generally been the finger spinners that have dominated. In that regard the purchase of Noor Ahmed suggests that Gaikwad wants a bit more variety at his disposal for the 2025 campaign.

The focus for CSK going into Day 2 of the auction will be to fill out their fast bowling stocks. The men in yellow also love an all-rounder so don't be surprised to see them shopping around for options in that regard. Dube, Ravindra and Shankar may be listed as such but it'd be a surprise to see any of them bowl.

Delhi Capitals

With a lot of big names including within the leadership group jettisoned during the off-season, DC were always going to be in the market for a bit of experience. In that regard, KL Rahul represents a good bit of business and a player that they can bank on for consistent runs at the top of the order. He might also be the perfect foil for the exciting young Fraser-McGurk.

With twin spinners Axar and Kuldeep retained, DC were in need of quicks and they got Mitch Starc for a much lower price than he joined KKR for this time last year. They also acquired a couple of very experienced local bowlers in Natarajan and Mohit Sharma both of whom are well suited to bowling at the death. Given the very small dimensions of their home ground that style of bowling could end up being utilised much earlier than the final 5.

With not a massive amount of budget remaining, DC's main focus will be on bulking out their bowling options. With 4 overseas options already in the squad, then one of those quicks could well be non-Indian if they can strengthen their middle order with local talent.

Gujarat Titans

The Titans came out of the traps very quickly in signing the likes of Buttler, Rabada and Siraj early on.

The pitches in Ahmedabad have offered something for the seamers over the past couple of seasons and the Titans definitely missed Mohammed Shami last year. They've opted to not retain him but if Rabada, Siraj and Prasidh Krishna who has had his own injury problems of late can click then that looks a formidable attack with Rashid Khan to come in too.

Gill and Buttler are 2 of the most consistent top order players in the world while Sai Sudharsan's reputation continues to grow. Tewatia and Shahrukh Kahn not to mention Rashid Khan can give the innings a real impetus at the back end so the missing pieces in the jigsaw looks like it'll be middle order and all-rounder options. Given that they've only brought in 3 overseas players then you'd bank on one of those slots being filled via that avenue.

KKR

Reigning champions KKR retained more players (6) than any other franchise. They then spent a huge amount in bringing back Vekatesh Iyer. The signing itself is maybe not a surprise but the price tag was! Arora, Gurbaz and Raghuvanshi were also re-signed as the Knights Riders worked hard to maintain the core of their championship team.

They were able to break the bank for Venky largely because of the relatively low fees paid for Harshit Rana and their 2 long-serving West Indians. QdK too was pretty cheap at 3.8Cr. The South Africa will presumably replace Salt as the keeper batsmen at the top of the order and you'd imagine he'll enjoy playing on the surfaces at Eden Gardens far more than the slow low wickets of Lucknow.

With only 10Cr left to spend KKR won't be able to flex their muscles much on day 2 and their focus will surely be on bringing in a few more seam options including a left-armer.

LSG

LSG made Rishabh Pant the highest paid player in the history of the IPL and presumably they'll appoint him as their new captain too.

They also brought in David Miller which means that they have an abundance of left-handed middle order hitters.

Whether Mitch Marsh and Aiden Markram are the answer at the top of the order remains to be seen. Marsh could at least provide a bowling option but they don't have the all-rounders in the squad they had last year (yet), nor do they have any finger spinners. Those 2 areas look likely to be where the most investment is still required with the remaining 14Cr.

Mumbai Indians

As the empty spaces on the graphic suggests, it was a bit of a slow day for MI who at present have the equal lowest number of players in their 2025 squad (RCB also have 9).

Their biggest signing was bringing Trent Boult back to the franchise after a 3 year absence and he'll undoubtedly enjoy the swing that is often on offer at the Wankhede.

Naman Dhir was also brought back in via the 'right to match' feature although the price seems a bit high for a player who has only played 7 matches in the tournament. Surely they could have negotiated a similar if not lower price directly with the player if they wanted him that much!

Given the large outlay on retaining Bumrah, Pandya, Sky and Rohit, it was always likely that MI would struggle to mix it with the franchises who held significantly larger purses coming into the auction. That dynamic will change going into day 2 - their 26.1Cr means they now have the 2nd most funds to use!

PBKS

Having used just 9.5Cr of their budget in retaining players, Punjab were always going to be happy shoppers on day 1 of the auction. Shreyas Iyer was the big recruit at 26.75Cr making him 2nd only to Pant in the all-time cost stakes.

To be honest, that amount for Iyer the batsman is way too much so presumably the massive outlay is more about him as a leader. If he can break The King's long playoff drought then he'll be a hero across the Punjab!

Glen Maxwell was part of the last PBKS side that made the play-offs, 11 years ago! It's no great surprise to see him and fellow Aussie Marcus Stoinis follow Ponting as the new head coach, 'jobs for the boys' seems to be written into the contract of whichever franchise he's at!

Yash Thakur and Arshdeep Singh are good local options but PBKS need some genuine pace and that's the type of player they'll be targeting on day 2.

Rajasthan Royals

The double Rs started slowly before splurging on 5 bowlers, 3 of whom are classified as oveseas. That was perhaps to be expected given that their 5 primary retentions were batsmen!

Jofra Archer was a late addition to the auction but finds himself back at the franchise where he first made his name in the IPL. With Rajasthan releasing both Ashwin and Chahal they needed to look at their spin options and that resulted in bids for Hasaranga and Theekshana.

Of course, with both of those frontline spinners occupying overseas spots, it means that Rajasthan will need to either rotate them or bank on Indian seamers to support Archer. Akash Madwhal has been brought in to support Sandeep Sharma in that regard but expect the Royals to look at strengthening their options in that department on day 2 as well as looking for more depth in the top order too.

RCB

The Challengers' approach to day 1 of the auction was perhaps the most curious of all. Having retained just 3 players and given themselves one of the bigger pursues coming into the day's proceedings, you would have thought that RCB would have thrown their weight around a bit more.

That's not to say they didn't bid on a good number of the big money players that were on offer but when push came to shove they regularly backed down.

Time will tell whether that tactic will pay off as they go into day 2 with the biggest amount yet to spend and they will be able to comfortably gazump half the other franchises out there should a bidding war erupt for the remaining talent.

Of the players they did buy, Livingstone, Salt and Jitesh Sharma will almost certainly enjoy batting at the M Chinnaswamy but the question marks, as are so often the case with RCB, remains the balance of the side and the quality of their bowling attack.

No left-handers, no genuine pace and not much in the way of spinners means there is plenty of work for RCB to do on day 2!

SRH

Another franchise that opted to spend most of its budget on retaining their top talent. However, that didn't stop SRH being fairly active on day 1 and their tactic seems generally to have been to bring in experienced Indian talent.

Mohammed Shami, if fit, will bring genuine new ball potency to the side while Harshal Patel offers his skills at the back of the innings. Those 2 therefore dovetail quite nicely with captain Pat Cummins whose preference is for the middle overs.

High quality spin has been an issue for SRH ever since they let Rashid Khan go at the last mega-auction. Rahul Chahar is once again a seasoned pro albeit not exactly a match winner. Adam Zampa will probably find himself battling it out with whichever other overseas players SRH bring in on Day 2 for that 4th spot.

Ishan Kishan was widely tipped to go for far more than the 11.25Cr SRH got him for but perhaps a left-handed opener wasn't really what was needed given the relationship that Head and Abhishek struck up last season. The assumption is that Ishan will therefore slip down the order to number 3 or 4.

A finger spinning all-rounder and some support for Klassen lower down the order will be where SRH will need to use the bulk of their meagre budget.

Players to watch on Day 2

While we'll not see any of the massive sums that players went for today being thrown about in Day 2 that's not to say that the signings that will be made won't be crucial to the chances of all 10 franchises in 2025.

Sure, they'll be a fair bit of squad padding, particularly amongst the young local cricketers who will be coming in at around a 100th of the price that the likes of Pant and Shreyas fetched but there are some big names still waiting in the wings.

Here's my pick of the players to watch out for

Prithvi Shaw

Once seen as Tendulkar's heir apparent given his abundant skill from a very tender age, Shaw's fall from grace has been just as spectacular as his rise to it. There is still a player in there but fitness and attitude might put a few franchises off and it's telling that his base price is just 0.75Cr.

There was a definite personality clash between him and Ponting over the last couple of seasons at Delhi so he needs to move somewhere with a coach who can get the best out of him.

Rahul Dravid, now at RR, was India's U-19 coach when Shaw was captain and really announced himself on the world stage. Then again he was also the national team coach that dropped him, a blow that the right-hander has struggled to recover from. Still, the sight of Shaw and Jaiswal opening together in full flow would be something to behold...

Sam Curran

Once the most expensive player in the history of the IPL, Curran won't reach those heights again in this auction but as a left-handed all-rounder he won't be short of suitors.

He's coped a bit of flak for the price tag at PBKS but Curran bowls tough overs and generally scores runs when his team needs them most. With Shikhar Dhawan out injured for part of last season, he also did a good job of leading a very average PBKS side.

Nitish Rana

Rana is one of those cricketers I always want to do well because I can't help but think there's a bit of unfulfilled potential there. He's been prolific in Indian domestic cricket for some time but hasn't quite cracked it on the biggest stage.

That being said, his IPL record is solid and his ability to attack spin means he's a more than a useful option in the middle order.

Maybe, just maybe, RCB will realise that he is exactly the profile of player they've need since... well forever!

Washington Sundar

This man's stock is very much on the rise at the moment and there was a lot of talk about CSK going in for him (he is a Chennai local). However, with the arrival of Ashwin, that now seems unlikely.

He's spent 2 largely frustrating seasons on the periphery of the Sunrisers Team which is a concern given their lack of spinners during that time. However, he's only 25 and there could be a few franchises willing to give him the game time he needs to develop in this format. It might be an investment well made.

Jacob Bethell

Fast tracked into the England Test side this winter following his introduction to the white-ball team in the summer, there is definitely a swagger and haircut plus the talent to match that might interest a couple of IPL franchises.

Again, being a left-handed batter, happy to bat outside the top order who can also bowl left-arm spin and is a gun fielder will probably mean a few franchises could find a home for him. His ultimate problem will come when battling for one of the 4 overseas spots at wherever he ends up.

Unsold players from Day 1

Those players not picked up first time around in either Day 1 or Day 2 do have the chance of finding an employer via the speed auction at the end of proceedings.

Essentially, once all 557 players have gone on the block and assuming there are still places to fill, the franchises are asked to name the players they'd like to bid on again in a speed auction.

The big names already hanging on for that chance include,

• David Warner, 4th on the all-time scoring list for the IPL but of course now retired from international cricket. Although if Australia continue to struggle against India I wonder if he might make a comeback...

• Jonny Bairstow, who scored a magnificent century in IPL 2024 but that doesn't appear enough to have convinced anyone of his worth just yet.

• Devdutt Padikkal currently away with the Indian Test Team who endured a torrid time batting in the middle order for RR. Will someone be able to offer him a position higher up the order?

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I'll be back again later in the week, once the dust has settled to see which squads look the most complete and which franchises have left themselves a mountain to climb over the next 3 year cycle.

All squads list images taken from cricinfo.com