Stokes Absent from IPL 2025 Auction; Pant, Rahul, Starc Set Top Base Price

The IPL 2025 auction long list, awaiting finalization based on franchise feedback, features marquee Indian players not retained by their teams. Captains Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Shreyas Iyer, formerly of Delhi Capitals, Lucknow Super Giants, and Kolkata Knight Riders, respectively, are set at a base price of INR 2 crore. Joining them are R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, released by Rajasthan Royals.

Fast bowler Mohammed Shami, sidelined by injuries since the 2023 ODI World Cup, is also priced at INR 2 crore after Gujarat Titans did not retain him.

Other Indian players with a top base price of INR 2 crore include Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Venkatesh Iyer, Avesh Khan, Ishan Kishan, Mukesh Kumar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, T Natarajan, Devdutt Padikkal, Krunal Pandya, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, and Umesh Yadav.

Meanwhile, Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan, unsold in the previous auction, have entered at a base price of INR 75 lakh.

Ben Stokes has opted out of IPL 2025, continuing his absence from the previous season to manage his workload and fitness following a hamstring injury sustained during The Hundred.