The Indian Premier League (IPL) Mega Auction concluded last week in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A total of 10 franchises spent a record-breaking Rs. 639.15 crores on 182 players, including 120 Indian and 62 overseas cricketers, in their quest to build a trophy-winning squad. Numerous records were shattered during the auction, including the most expensive player in IPL history and the youngest Indian to be sold in an IPL auction.
Now that the auction has concluded, all franchises are looking to determine the right combinations and roles for their players before they come together for training and the highly anticipated IPL 2023. According to cricket experts, openers play a crucial role in setting the tone for the innings, and this was evident in the performances of the opening pairs from the last two edition finalists.
Examining the statistics of the finalists, the opening pairs have collectively scored over 900 runs. Sunil Narine has accumulated 488 runs, while his opening partner, Phil Salt, has amassed 435 runs for the champions, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). On the other side, Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have scored 484 and 567 runs, respectively, as openers.
In the IPL, teams have scored 200 or more runs in their innings a total of 41 times, with eight instances of totals exceeding 250 runs. Therefore, it will be crucial to see what potential opening pairs every franchise will field for IPL 2025. The majority of runs from this 200+ run total have come when the opening batters in the likes of Narine, Salt, Abhishek, Head, Virat Kohli (741), Rohit Sharma (417), Shubman Gill (426), Ruturaj Gaikwad (583), and Sai Sudharshan (527) have scored big. Notably, all these batters have scored over 400+ runs in the last edition of the cash-rich league.
Mumbai Indians (MI), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Punjab Kings (PBKS), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) franchises have retained at least one of their openers for the 2024 season.
Here's the list of potential openers for IPL 2025 of all franchises:
- Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine (Rs 12 crore) - Quinton de Kock (Rs 3.60 crore)
- Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma (Rs 14 crore) - Travis Head (Rs 14 crore)
- Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rs 18 crore) - Sanju Samson (Rs 18 crore)
- Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (Rs 21 crore) - Philip Salt (Rs 11.50 crore)
- Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (Rs 16.30 crore) - Will Jacks (Rs 5.25 crore)
- Chennai Super Kings: Ruthuraj Gaekwad (Rs 18 crore) - Devon Conway (Rs 6.25 crore)
- Punjab Kings: Prabhsimran Singh (Rs 4 crore) - Jos Inglis (Rs 2.60 crore)
- Delhi Capitals: KL Rahul (Rs 14 crore) - Jake Fraser McGurk (Rs 9 crore)
- Lucknow Supergiants: Aiden Markrum (Rs 2 crore) - Mitchell Marsh (Rs 3.40 crore)
- Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (Rs 16.5 crore) - Jos Buttler (Rs 15.75 crore).
