The mega auction of the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, under the conduction of Mallika Sagar, who had conducted the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in the past and also replaced Hugh Edmeades as the auctioneer for the 2024 edition of the cash-rich league.
Mallika has over twenty years of experience as an auctioneer and will continue her association with the IPL, where she became the first female to hold the auspicious occasion last year. In the past, the auctions of the 20-over league were conducted only by males, with the likes of Richard Madley, Hugh Edmeades, and Charu Sharma managing the proceedings of the room and the hammer.
Even before her experience with cricket through the WPL and later in the 17-year-old tournament, Mallika conducted the auction for the eighth season of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL). She did an excellent job even during the mini-auction of the previous season and will look to extend the same work.
Mallika Sagar to conduct the IPL 2025 Mega Auction
All ten franchises are in their preparations for the two-day event, which will help them to design their squad for the next cycle of three years in the IPL, which will put their feet in the 18th edition during the year 2025. The retentions are done, and now it’s time to build the core and surroundings for the side as they look to finalize the potential shortlist of players for the auction.
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Teams like Delhi Capitals (DC), Rajasthan Royals (RR), and Mumbai Indians (MI) have had multiple rounds of trials. At the same time, the likes of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are likely to hold their search for players when the ongoing fifth round of the Ranji Trophy ends on November 16.
As many as 1574 players registered for the mega auction of the IPL, which has been shortlisted to 574 before each of the franchises will be asked to submit their players for the accelerated mode. Every side can have a maximum of 25 players in their camp, with the minimum being recorded at 18. Over 200 slots are up for grabs at the two-day event.
So many high-profile players in the form of the former captain and wicket-keeper batter of India, KL Rahul, or the poster-boy of the current Blue Brigade, Rishabh Pant, or the winning captain of the defending champions of the IPL, Shreyas Iyer, will enter the auction pool with a hope to build new relationships. All of these players are expected to attract a lot of interest from the teams looking for a captain.
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The biggest positive news for both the league and the CSK franchise came after Thala Dhoni decided to keep himself prepared for the upcoming edition of the event. The former World Cup-winning captain for India, who grabbed five titles of the IPL, will be back at his den, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk in Chennai.
Mumbai Indians kept their core players intact for the new season as the likes of Rohit Sharma, the T20 World Cup-winning leader, along with premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah and quality all-rounder Hardik Pandya were retained, as is the current T20I captain of the Blue Brigade, Suryakumar Yadav. Young Tilak Verma, who recently celebrated two successive T20I centuries against South Africa, extends the bond.
The mega auction will begin at 12:30 local time in Jeddah, which is 3 pm IST.