Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Five players from Madhya Pradesh were sold out for 17.25 crore so far at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 mini-auction at Dubai on Tuesday.
All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer from Indore was sold for Rs 7 crore. He was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). In the previous IPL season, Kolkata had bought him for Rs 23.75 crore. Iyer's base price for IPL 2026 was Rs 2 crore.
Previously, for IPL 2024, Kolkata Knight Riders had bought Iyer for Rs 23.75 crore. The team retained him for the following season. In the last season, Venkatesh Iyer played 11 matches and scored only 142 runs. Overall, he has scored 1468 runs in 62 IPL matches so far, including one century and 12 half-centuries.
Akshat Raghuvanshi from Ashoknagar, was bought by Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 2.20 crore. His base price was Rs 30 lakh. Sunrisers Hyderabad also bid for Akshat, but later withdrew. He has been practicing at the Faith Club in Bhopal for a long time.
Akshat had a stellar performance in the Madhya Pradesh League (MPL) 2025. Playing for Indore Pink Panthers, he scored 239 runs in 4 matches and was among the select few players to score a century in the tournament. He went unsold in the previous auction. He
Mangesh Yadav, the leading wicket-taker in MPL 2025, was bought by RCB for Rs 5.20 crore. Mangesh, from Chhindwara, took 14 wickets in 6 matches while playing for Gwalior Cheetahs. His base price was Rs 30 lakh.
All-rounder Shivang Kumar, who played for Bhopal Leopards in the MPL, was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 30 lakh. Shivang scored 120 runs and took 5 wickets in 7 matches in MPL 2025. He also played innings of 91 runs off 42 balls. He has taken 4 wickets so far in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. His base price was also set at Rs 30 lakh. Kuldeep Sen was sold for Rs 75 lakh to Rajasthan Royals.
BOX
5 players retained
Meanwhile, Rajat Patidar (Indore), Avesh Khan (Indore), Arshad Khan (Jabalpur), Aniket Verma (Bhopal), and Madhav Verma (Indore) have been retained by their respective teams. Patidar was made the captain of RCB last season. Under his captaincy, RCB became champions after 18 years. Avesh has been retained by Lucknow, Arshad by Gujarat, Aniket by Hyderabad, and Madhav by Delhi Capitals.
Rajat Patidar 11.00 Cr RCB
Avesh Khan 9.20 Cr LSG
Arshad Khan 1.30 Cr GT
Madhav Tiwari 0.40 Cr DC
Aniket Verma 0.30 Cr SRH
