In the upcoming IPL mega auction, there will be two sets of marquee players, which is usually a rare sighting in an IPL auction. According to a Cricbuzz, the BCCI has notified IPL franchisees that there will be two sets of marquee players in Jeddah.
The article further states that each set of marquee players will consist of 8 to 9 big names. Having two sets of elite-class players in an IPL auction is highly unusual, although it has occurred in the past. The 2014 and 2018 auctions are examples of it, where marquee players were divided into two sets or groups. However, in the previous mega auction that happened in 2022, there was no such thing, and marquee players were introduced in just one group.
Each marquee player has a base price of 2 crore INR, so it is expected that most of the shopping will be done by the franchisees during these two sets. According to an estimation, it is expected that by the end of the first two sets, 30% to 50% of the available auction purse will be already spent.
The franchise is anticipated to sign at least two prominent names, which will cost them between INR 20-25 crore on average, deducting INR 200-250 crore from the total available budget of Rs 641.5 crore. The franchisees have already spent Rs 558.5 crore of the allotted INR 1200 crore on retentions.
The BCCI will release the exact order of bidding and the marquee list in a few upcoming days. According to BCCI, a total of 1,574 players have registered themselves for the 2025 IPL auction. The list includes 1,165 Indian players and 409 international players. Of those 1574 players, 320 are capped, 1224 are uncapped, and 30 are from associate nations.
The IPL 2025 Mega Auction will take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for two days from November 24 to 25.
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