All posts tagged: IPL 2025 auction

Unsold in auction, how a phone call from Zaheer Khan paved the way for Shardul Thakur’s return to IPL

Unsold in auction, how a phone call from Zaheer Khan paved the way for Shardul Thakur’s return to IPL

Published by Webster

A phone call from Zaheer Khan, asking him to prepare for a call-up, ushered a change in fortune for Shardul Thakur. On Thursday, the Mumbai all-rounder was rewarded with the purple cap after he became the Indian Premier League’s leading wicket-taker this season. Not too long ago, however, Thakur — in a quiet moment of introspection after he went unsold in the mega auction — wondered, “Am I that bad?” In the weeks leading up to the auction, the Mumbai all-rounder requested a few franchise owners to consider him once. After all, he had played 95 matches for five franchises. He even texted an Indian teammate. At 33, Thakur was pushing hard for an India comeback, after he was snubbed for the Australia tour as the selectors chose Nitish Reddy ahead of him. IPL, he thought, would be a springboard to return to the national team. Story continues below this ad A day before the auction last November, where 366 Indian players had registered, Thakur got a ‘positive’ response from some of the franchise officials. …

Punjab Kings coach Ricky Ponting says Shreyas Iyer, Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal were ‘non-negotiables’ for him

Punjab Kings coach Ricky Ponting says Shreyas Iyer, Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal were ‘non-negotiables’ for him

Published by Webster

Punjab Kings’ head coach Ricky Ponting has explained his reasoning for why he pushed for the franchise to pursue three Indian stars – Shreyas Iyer, Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal – in the IPL 2025 auction. While Shreyas Iyer was picked up for Rs 26.75 crore, Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal cost the Kings Rs 18 crore each in the IPL auction. “There were three players that I wanted to bring in. One who has been at Punjab Kings for three or four years—Arshdeep Singh. I also wanted to bring in a captain who I have worked with before and who has had a lot of success. So, we went after Shreyas Iyer. I also wanted to bring in Yuzi. So the Indian guys that we have are perfect,” Ponting said in a recent episode of The Howie Games podcast. Story continues below this ad “And then, we had to make a few tweaks as the auction went on to make sure we ended up with a really good squad. I am trying to make …

Shreyas Iyer named Punjab Kings captain ahead of IPL 2025 as actor Salman Khan makes surprise announcement

Shreyas Iyer named Punjab Kings captain ahead of IPL 2025 as actor Salman Khan makes surprise announcement

Published by Parlour News

Shreyas Iyer has been named the captain of Punjab Kings for the next season of Indian Premier League. Punjab Kings went all guns blazing after Iyer in the IPL 2025 auction and signed him for a whopping INR 26.75 crore to make him the second most expensive player in the league’s history. Iyer led Kolkata Knight Riders to a title win last year but parted ways with them to throw his name in the auction where several franchises engaged in the bidding wars, but PBKS, who had the biggest purse, beat them all to sign him. Shreyas Iyer named Punjab Kings skipper for next season of IPL.(PTI) In the search for their maiden IPL trophy, Punjab decided to appoint a captain who has done it before. The announcement was made by actor Salman Khan during the reality television show, ‘Bigg Boss’, where Iyer was present as a guest alongside Yuzvendra Chahal. Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal and Shashank Singh went to the popular reality show Big Boss, where the big announcement was made by Bollywood superstar Salman …

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: How Ajinkya Rahane has led the show for Mumbai in SMAT after IPL 2025 Auction pick | Cricket News

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: How Ajinkya Rahane has led the show for Mumbai in SMAT after IPL 2025 Auction pick | Cricket News

Published by Webster

Ajinkya Rahane has been the toast of Mumbai’s batting at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this season, after scoring back-to-back half-centuries in record-breaking run chases. Rahane has scored four half-centuries in his six innings of the tournament, and has led a stacked Mumbai batting line-up which also poses the likes of captain Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Shivam Dube and India’s T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav. Rahane was unsold in the first round of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction that took place last month, but he was eventually picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). His T20 form prior to the auction was not something that particularly stood out, but after KKR won the bid for him, Rahane went on a scoring blitz as all of his top performances of the ongoing SMAT season came after the auction. With Suryakumar Yadav’s return, Rahane moved up to opening with Prithvi Shaw after initially batting at No. 4 in the tournament. In their last group-stage match against Andhra, a loss would have meant Mumbai would have been knocked out …

Prithvi Shaw breaks silence on social media trolling after going unsold at IPL 2025 auction: ‘What wrong have I done?’

Prithvi Shaw breaks silence on social media trolling after going unsold at IPL 2025 auction: ‘What wrong have I done?’

Published by Parlour News

Mumbai batter Prithvi Shaw, on Monday, went unsold at the IPL 2025 mega auction in Jeddah. He was presented on the second day of the auction, for a base price of INR 75 lakh, but attracted no bidders and was also not recalled during the accelerated round. Amid the IPL snub, a video on social media went viral where Shaw broke his silence on the endless trolling he has faced since incurring a downfall in his cricketing career. Prithvi Shaw went unsold at IPL 2025 auction(AP) In a video that was originally shared on the YouTube channel “Focused Indian” on the eve of the auction in Jeddah, Shaw was seen talking about how he deals with criticism on social media. He pointed out that most of these social media users don’t follow him on any of the websites and yet are keeping a tab of his activities, which he rather took it positively, but admitted that some of the memes and posts shared do hurt him. “If he is not following me, then how will …

‘Hope one day we can reunite’: Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal’s farewell message to Rishabh Pant | Cricket News

‘Hope one day we can reunite’: Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal’s farewell message to Rishabh Pant | Cricket News

Published by Webster

Delhi Capitals’ co-owner Parth Jindal on Tuesday posted a heartfelt note on X, bidding farewell to former skipper Rishabh Pant and hoped that the player and the franchise could reunite somewhere down the line in the future. “To Rishabh @RishabhPant17, you are and will always remain my younger brother – from the bottom of my heart I love you and I have tried everything to make sure you are happy and have treated you like my family. I am very sad to see you go and I am very emotional about it. You will always be in DC and I hope one day we can reunite. Thank you for everything Rishabh and remember that we will always love you – go well champ, the world is at your feet. Best wishes from all of us at @DelhiCapitals – other than when you play DC I will be cheering and hoping for the best for you!,” he wrote in the X post. Pant replied to the post saying, “Thanku bhaiya the feeling is mutual. Means a …

IPL Auction: Punjab Kings assemble a squad to dream of play-off berth | Cricket News

IPL Auction: Punjab Kings assemble a squad to dream of play-off berth | Cricket News

Published by Webster

IPL Auction: It has been the theme of Punjab Kings to opt for a complete overhaul every other IPL season. In the previous mega auctions they formed a strong squad, but the performances didn’t reflect on the field. So they recruited Ricky Ponting as their new head coach and used the two days to build a squad that definitely looks strong on paper with bases covered. Here is the make-up of the squad. Batsmen: Shreyas Iyer, Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Harnoor Singh Pannu, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash. Wicketkeepers: Josh Inglis, Vishnu Vinod, Prabhsimran Singh. All-rounders: Glenn Maxwell (spin), Marcus Stoinis (pace), Marco Jansen (pace), Harpreet Brar (spin), Azmatullah Omarzai (pace), Aaron Hardie (pace), Musheer Khan (spin), Suryansh Shedge (pace). Spinners: Yuzvendra Chahal, Pravin Dubey. Fast bowlers: Arshdeep Singh (RTM), Lockie Ferguson, Yash Thakur, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Kuldeep Sen, Xavier Bartlett. Early impressions: Can’t but admire the squad they have assembled that can genuinely challenge for a play-off berth. Ponting’s influence in the franchise showed at the auction table as he went big on getting Shreyas Iyer, …

IPL Auction: Ensuring continuity, CSK put together another strong squad for home conditions | Cricket News

IPL Auction: Ensuring continuity, CSK put together another strong squad for home conditions | Cricket News

Published by Webster

Ensuring continuity has always been Chennai Super Kings success formula and despite missing out on a play-off berth narrowly, they stuck to their plans. For two days in Jeddah, CSK went after players who played for them last season and those who have been familiar with their set-up in the past and in the overseas leagues. Picking a squad that compliments their home conditions at the MA Chidambaram Stadium has been their strongest suit and at the auctions they did precisely that, bringing two spinners for nearly Rs 20 crore. Here is how their squad looks. Batsmen Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rahul Tripathi, Shaik Rasheed, Deepak Hooda, Andre Siddarth. Wicketkeepers MS Dhoni, Devon Conway, Vansh Bedi All-rounders Ravindra Jadeja (spin), Shivam Dube (pace), R Ashwin (spin), Sam Curran (pace), Rachin Ravindra (spin), Vijay Shankar (pace), Anshul Kamboj (pace), Jamie Overton (pace), Ramakrishna Ghosh (pace) Spinners Noor Ahmad, Shreyas Gopal Fast bowlers Matheesha Pathirana, Khaleel Ahmed, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Mukesh Choudhary, Gurjapneet Singh, Nathan Ellis First impression Have a strong squad that can bring them their sixth title. Out …

IPL Auction 2025: Ideal Playing 11 for all 10 teams after Mega Auction | Cricket News

IPL Auction 2025: Ideal Playing 11 for all 10 teams after Mega Auction | Cricket News

Published by Webster

  IPL Auction 2025: A whopping 182 players were sold for Rs 639.15 crore across two days of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction spectacle at the Abadi Al Johar Arena in Jeddah on Monday. Record-breaking bids were made as teams scrambled to reshape their squads for a fresh cycle. Rishabh Pant (Rs 27 crore), Shreyas Iyer (Rs 26.75 crore) and Venkatesh Iyer (Rs 23.75 crore) were the biggest gainers while 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the youngest crorepati in IPL history with a bid from Rajasthan Royals. IPL Auction 2025 Highlights As the teams look to put their best foot forward next season, here is a look at the ideal Playing XIs for all 10 franchises after their IPL Auction 2025 performances. IPL 2025: CHECK OUT THE FULL SQUADS OF ALL 10 TEAMS IPL AUCTION – IDEAL PLAYING XIs OF ALL TEAMS Predicted 11s – CSK, DC, GT, KKR, LSG CSK DC GT KKR LSG Ruturaj Gaikwad (c) KL Rahul Shubman Gill (c) Quinton de Kock Aiden Markram Devon Conway Faf du Plessis/JFM Jos Buttler Sunil Narine …

IPL Auction notes: How teams embraced well-laid plans and mindful spending to assemble strong squads | Cricket News

IPL Auction notes: How teams embraced well-laid plans and mindful spending to assemble strong squads | Cricket News

Published by Webster

IPL Auction 2025: Beyond a 17-year-old tournament witnessing a 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi become a crorepati and Ambala born Gurjapneet Singh who found a home at Tamil Nadu now donning the famous yellow jersey, the two-day IPL mega auctions saw teams tussle for the best talents and assemble a strong squad. In the past, franchises have come out of the auction table with plenty of unanswered questions and imbalanced squads. But at Jeddah they came up with well-laid plans and put together evenly matched squads on paper. The two most successful franchises with five titles each, they remained in total control, even as others scrambled around. Having retained their Indian core, Mumbai Indians as usual went big for an overseas pacer in Trent Boult and a new ball bowler in Deepak Chahar. For the rest, they relied on their scouting team, which helped them snap Ryan Rickelton and uncapped Kiwi Bevan-John Jacobs to lend lower-order firepower. In Will Jacks, they got their overseas top-order bat and finished another auction without going big on a spinner. Chennai …