Jeddah (Saudi Arabia): While the first day of the IPL 2025 mega auction involved some expensive signings, the action also involved some star players going unsold. Venkatesh Iyer became the third player to breach the 20-crore mark while former Australia batter David Warner went unsold in the auction as no franchises put a bid on him. Also, Indian batter Devdutt Padikkal who is currently in Australia playing the Border Gavaskar Trophy got no bidders in the auction room.
After the auction for the players from the first two marquee sets was over, some of the batters and all-rounders went under the hammer. The franchise spent heavy amounts in the first two sets, but when it came to Venkatesh Iyer, the franchise fought hard to acquire his all-round qualities. Both Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) went all out for the player but the former eventually gave up. With a bid of ₹23.75 Crore, Venkatesh Iyer became the most expensive Indian all-rounder in the history of the tournament.
#𝙆𝙆𝙍 𝙜𝙤 𝙗𝙞𝙜 & 𝙝𝙤𝙬! 💪 💪
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 24, 2024
Venkatesh Iyer is back with Kolkata Knight Riders 🙌 🙌
Base Price: INR 2 Crore
SOLD For: INR 23.75 Crore#TATAIPLAuction | #TATAIPL | @venkateshiyer | @KKRiders pic.twitter.com/4eDZPt5Pdx
Venkatesh has featured in two ODIs and nine T20Is for the Indian team so far. The Indian all-rounder has 2705 T20 runs to his name. Venkatesh also became the third most expensive pick on the first day of the IPL mega auction after Rishabh Pant (₹27 Crores) and Shreyas Iyer (₹26.75 Crores).
In another surprising occurrence, Australian batter David Warner went unsold as he found no bidders while India batter Devdutt Padikkal also mate the same fate. Explosive England batter Jonny Bairstow also went unsold in the auction room on Sunday.
