As the year 2024 culminates with ending their cricket season with an embarrassing 184-run defeat to Australia in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday, the New Year promises fans exciting and gripping matches including the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, scheduled to start on March 14 with the final slated on May 25.
Before the start of the new edition, the 10 IPL franchises went to the auction table in November to bolster their squads. With a record spending of Rs 639.15 crore, the teams added 182 players to their squads including 62 overseas players. India wicketkeeper-batter and former Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in the history of the tournament after being bought by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for an astronomical price of Rs 27 crore while Shreyas Iyer ended as the second-most expensive player with a deal of Rs 26.75 crore from Punjab Kings.
Apart from the star duo, all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer (bought for Rs 23.75 crore by Kolkata Knight Riders), pacer Arshdeep Singh (bought for Rs 18 crore by Punjab Kings), spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (bought for Rs 18 crore by Punjab Kings), England white-ball captain Jos Buttler (bought for Rs 15.75 crore by Gujarat Titans), wicketkeeper-batter K.L. Rahul (bought for Rs 14 crore by Delhi Capitals), pacers Trent Boult, Jofra Archer and Josh Hazlewood (bought for Rs 12.50 crore each by Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, respectively) were the top buys of the two-day bidding extravaganza in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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Among the uncapped players, Jammu & Kashmir pacer Rasikh Dar, who previously played for Delhi Capitals, was the most expensive buy with a price tag of Rs 6 crore. He was acquired by Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Punjab’s Naman Dhir and Nehal Wadhera were bought by Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings for Rs 5.25 crore and Rs 4.20 crore, respectively. Among others, the 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi of Bihar was signed by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.1 crore to become the youngest player in IPL history to get a contract. Leaving aside the fresh inclusions, the focus will again shift to veterans including MS Dhoni before the start of the IPL 2025 season.
The social media users in unison declare it the final season for the 42-year-old veteran while some expect him to play for one another season, the trend that has been going on in the last few years. However, the five-time champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are confident of Dhoni’s availability for at least IPL 2025. Meanwhile, it will also be the first IPL season for senior campaigners – Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja – following their international retirement from the T20Is.
The trio retired from the shortest format after India’s T20 World Cup 2024 win in Bridgetown, Barbados. Rohit and Kohli’s recent form in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy series has ignited calls for their retirement from Test cricket. If the star batters hang their boots from the red-ball cricket, their participation will only be limited to ODI cricket and IPL – making it more thrilling for the fans to watch their favourite stars.
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