IPL Auction 2025: Full squads analysed - how each team strategised to build the perfect combination

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IPL Auction 2025: Full squads analysed - how each team strategised to build the perfect combination ^Featured

Super User 29 November 2024

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All Indian Premier League (IPL) teams have finalised their squads for the 2025 season after going through the retentions and the auction. Each team has signed their minimum 18 players and maximum of 25 from the Rs 120 crore that was available to them.

We take a look at how the teams are stacked after the two-day auction process in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians (MI) have a robust core of Indian players, but their overseas signings for the upcoming season are unconventional. While the presence of Trent Boult and Mitchell Santner adds experience, the rest of their foreign contingent is relatively untested in the IPL.

Players like England’s Will Jacks, Reece Topley, South Africa’s Lizaad Williams, and Afghanistan’s Allah Ghazanfar have limited league experience. New Zealand's Bevan-John Jacobs and South Africa’s Ryan Rickelton are making their IPL debuts, making MI’s depth a key area to watch.

Mumbai Indians SQUAD

Batters: Suryakumar Yadav (retained), Rohit Sharma (retained), Tilak Varma (retained), Bevan-John Jacobs

Wicketkeepers: Robin Minz, Ryan Rickelton, Krishnan Shrijith

Allrounders: Hardik Pandya (pace; retained), Naman Dhir (spin; RTM), Will Jacks (spin), Raj Angad Bawa (pace), Vignesh Puthur (spin)

Spinners: Allah Ghazanfar, Karn Sharma, Mitchell Santner

Fast bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah (retained), Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, Satyanarayana Raju, Arjun Tendulkar, Lizaad Williams

Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) made headlines by re-signing R. Ashwin after a decade, reuniting him with Ravindra Jadeja to further strengthen their spin department. The addition of young Afghan spinner Noor Ahmad complements their strategy. Their squad now boasts several all-rounders and fast bowlers. CSK has also placed bets on players like Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, and Kamlesh Nagarkoti, hoping to revive their IPL careers.

Chennai Super Kings SQUAD

Batters: Ruturaj Gaikwad (retained), Rahul Tripathi, Shaik Rasheed, Deepak Hooda, Andre Siddarth

Wicketkeepers: Devon Conway, MS Dhoni (retained), Vansh Bedi

Allrounders: Ravindra Jadeja (spin; retained), Shivam Dube (pace; retained), R Ashwin (spin), Sam Curran (pace), Rachin Ravindra (spin; RTM), Vijay Shankar (pace), Anshul Kamboj (pace), Jamie Overton (pace), Ramakrishna Ghosh (pace)

Spinners: Noor Ahmad, Shreyas Gopal

Fast bowlers: Matheesha Pathirana (retained), Khaleel Ahmed, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Mukesh Choudhary, Gurjapneet Singh, Nathan Ellis

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) bolstered their top order by acquiring Phil Salt, who will likely partner with Virat Kohli. They addressed their bowling woes with big investments in Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. For once, RCB’s batting and bowling units seem balanced, reducing their historical over-reliance on a few star players.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru SQUAD

Batters: Virat Kohli (retained), Rajat Patidar (retained), Tim David, Manoj Bhandage, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chikara

Wicketkeepers: Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma

Allrounders: Liam Livingstone (spin), Krunal Pandya (spin), Swapnil Singh (spin), Romario Shepherd (pace), Jacob Bethell (spin), Mohit Rathee (spin)

Spinners: Suyash Sharma, Abhinandan Singh

Fast bowlers: Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal (retained), Rasikh Salam, Nuwan Thushara, Lungi Ngidi

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) feature a formidable top five and a well-rounded first-choice bowling attack. However, their middle order remains relatively inexperienced. Back-up players Kamindu Mendis, Brydon Carse, and Eshan Malinga are new to the league, leaving SRH’s depth untested.

Sunrisers Hyderabad SQUAD

Batters: Travis Head (retained), Abhinav Manohar, Aniket Verma, Sachin Baby

Wicketkeepers: Heinrich Klaasen (retained), Ishan Kishan, Atharva Taide

Allrounders: Abhishek Sharma (spin; retained), Nitish Kumar Reddy (pace; retained), Kamindu Mendis (spin)

Spinners: Adam Zampa, Rahul Chahar, Zeeshan Ansari

Fast bowlers: Mohammed Shami, Pat Cummins (retained), Harshal Patel, Simarjeet Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, Brydon Carse, Eshan Malinga

Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) retained six players from their 2024 title-winning squad and reacquired six others, including splurging ₹23.75 crore on Venkatesh Iyer, their potential new captain. They swapped out Phil Salt and Mitchell Starc for Quinton de Kock and Anrich Nortje/Spencer Johnson, raising questions about whether this is a true upgrade. Surprising bids for Manish Pandey and Ajinkya Rahane also suggest a shift in strategy for KKR, who traditionally favor aggressive batting styles.

Kolkata Knight Riders SQUAD

Batters: Rinku Singh (retained), Rovman Powell, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia, Ajinkya Rahane

Wicketkeepers: Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz

Allrounders: Venkatesh Iyer (pace), Andre Russell (pace; retained), Sunil Narine (spin; retained), Ramandeep Singh (pace; retained), Anukul Roy (spin), Moeen Ali (spin)

Spinners: Varun Chakravarthy (retained), Mayank Markande

Fast bowlers: Harshit Rana (retained), Vaibhav Arora, Anrich Nortje, Spencer Johnson, Umran Malik

Punjab Kings

Punjab Kings (PBKS) made Shreyas Iyer their marquee signing for ₹26.75 crore, positioning him as a likely captain. The influence of head coach Ricky Ponting is clear, with five of their eight overseas players hailing from Australia. Their lineup will see significant changes, with Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh, and Harpreet Brar likely being the only key holdovers from last season.

Punjab Kings SQUAD

Batters: Shreyas Iyer, Shashank Singh (retained), Nehal Wadhera, Harnoor Singh Pannu, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash

Wicketkeepers: Josh Inglis, Vishnu Vinod, Prabhsimran Singh (retained)

Allrounders: 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

Lucknow Super Giants

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) broke records by acquiring Rishabh Pant for ₹27 crore, making him the most expensive player in IPL history and their likely captain. Despite an impressive top six, they missed out on an established Indian opener. However, they compensated with a strong Indian bowling lineup, which could lead to a batting order stacked with overseas talent.

Lucknow Super Giants SQUAD

Batters: Aiden Markram, David Miller, Ayush Badoni (retained), Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke

Wicketkeepers: Rishabh Pant, Nicholas Pooran (retained), Aryan Juyal

Allrounders: Adbul Samad (spin), Mitchell Marsh (pace), Shahbaz Ahmed (spin), Yuvraj Chaudhary (spin), Rajvardhan Hangargekar (pace), Arshin Kulkarni (Pace)

Spinners: Ravi Bishnoi (retained), M Siddharth, Digvesh Singh

Fast bowlers: Mayank Yadav (retained), Mohsin Khan (retained), Akash Deep, Avesh Khan, Akash Singh, Shamar Joseph, Prince Yadav

Delhi Capitals

Delhi Capitals (DC) face a captaincy dilemma between Axar Patel and new signing KL Rahul, who will likely open the batting. With aggressive hitters throughout the lineup, DC’s batting looks formidable. They have also addressed concerns in their fast bowling department, making it a much stronger unit this season.

Delhi Capitals SQUAD

Batters: Jake Fraser-McGurk (RTM), Harry Brook, Tristan Stubbs (retained), Faf du Plessis, Karun Nair

Wicketkeepers: KL Rahul, Abishek Porel (retained), Donovan Ferreria

Allrounders: Axar Patel (spin; retained), Ashutosh Sharma (spin), Sameer Rizvi (spin), Darshan Nalkande (pace), Vipraj Nigam (spin), Ajay Mandal (spin), Manvanth Kumar (pace), Tripurana Vijay (spin), Madhav Tiwari (pace)

Spinners: Kuldeep Yadav (retained)

Fast bowlers: Mitchell Starc, Mukesh Kumar, T Natarajan, Mohit Sharma, Dushmantha Chameera

Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals (RR) focused on boosting their bowling attack, bringing in Jofra Archer, Wanindu Hasaranga, and Maheesh Theekshana. However, Archer and Hasaranga’s injury history could test RR’s reliance on its Indian bench. Overseas reserves Kwena Maphaka and Fazalhaq Farooqi are relatively low-profile, raising questions about their depth.

Punjab Kings SQUAD

Batters: Yashasvi Jaiswal (retained), Shimron Hetmyer (retained), Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi

Wicketkeepers: Sanju Samson (retained), Dhruv Jurel (retained), Kunal Singh Rathore

Allrounders: Riyan Parag (spin; retained), Nitish Rana (spin), Yudhvir Singh (pace)

Spinners: Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Kumar Kartikeya

Fast bowlers: Jofra Archer, Sandeep Sharma (retained), Tushar Deshpande, Akash Madhwal, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kwena Maphaka, Ashok Sharma

Gujarat Titans

Gujarat Titans (GT) made significant acquisitions, picking up marquee players like Jos Buttler, Mohammed Siraj, and Kagiso Rabada. Adding Prasidh Krishna was another strategic move. However, they remain vulnerable in their Indian fast-bowling backup and will rely heavily on Washington Sundar to overcome his recent IPL struggles and deliver a balanced performance.

Gujarat Titans SQUAD

Batters: Shubman Gill (retained), Sai Sudharsan (retained), Rahul Tewatia (retained), Sherfane Rutherford

Wicketkeepers: Jos Buttler, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat

Allrounders: Rashid Khan (spin; retained), Washington Sundar (spin), M Shahrukh Khan (spin; retained), Mahipal Lomror (spin), Nishant Sindhu (spin), Arshad Khan (pace), Jayant Yadav (spin), Glenn Phillips (spin), Karim Janat (pace)

Spinners: Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore

Fast bowlers: Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gerald Coetzee, Gurnoor Brar, Ishant Sharma, Kulwant Khejroliya