India's Rishabh Pant broke Indian Premier League auction records after Lucknow Super Giants
cracked up the wicketkeeper-batsman for 270 million rupees ($3.2 million) when he surpassed the 267.5 Shreyas Iyer, who captained the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to its IPL title victory last season.
Pant, became the most expensive signing in history of IPL when he was sold to PBKS for Rs 26.75 crore at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction held at the Abady Al-Johar Arena in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday.
Meanwhile Shreyas Iyer, broke Mitchell Starc’s record who was signed by KKR for Rs 24.75 crore at the last auction.
Despite leading KKR to its third IPL title, Shreyas was released by the franchise ahead of the auction. The 29-year-old has been in impressive form this domestic season, scoring two centuries in the Ranji Trophy and another ton in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
In IPL 2024, Shreyas amassed 351 runs across 14 matches with a strike rate of 146.86.
Notably, he became the first Indian captain to lead two different teams to an IPL final, having previously guided Delhi Capitals to the summit clash in 2020.
Arshdeep Singh was retained by Punjab Kings (PBKS) for Rs 18 crore during the IPL mega auction held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Initially picked up by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for Rs 15.75 crore, Punjab Kings utilised its Right to Match (RTM) option to secure him. SRH then raised its bid to Rs 18 crore, which PBKS matched to retain the left-arm pacer.
The 25-year-old, who had set his base price at Rs 2 crore, was released by Punjab Kings ahead of this year’s auction despite representing the team since 2019.
In the IPL, Arshdeep has taken 76 wickets in 65 matches. He also played a pivotal role in India’s T20 World Cup triumph earlier this year, emerging as the joint-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 17 scalps.
