India's star batter Shreyas Iyer on Sunday became the second most expensive player ever bought in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) during the ongoing auction in Jeddah.
This amount surpasses the previous record held by Australia's Mitchell Starc who was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for ₹24.75 crore at the IPL 2024 auction in India.
Netizens and cricket pundits were left in awe as the bidding war for Iyer crossed the ₹20-crore mark for the first time in the IPL auctions.
Despite leading KKR to its third IPL title, Shreyas was released by the franchise ahead of the auction. The 29-year-old has fallen out of favour for Team India, however he is knocking the door of national team selectors with his impressive form this domestic season. Iyer scored two centuries in the Ranji Trophy and another ton in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Speaking of his IPL 2024 record , 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.
Ricky Ponting on working with Shreyas Iyer again
Punjab Kings coach Ricky Ponting is delighted to have Shreyas Iyer on board having previously worked with him at Delhi Capitals. He said, “I haven’t spoken to him (Shreyas Iyer about captaincy) yet. I tried to call him before the auction, but he didn’t pick up. He’s been a successful captain in the IPL before; I worked with him 3-4 years in Delhi, and he was the championship winner last season. I’m delighted to work with him again; if he can do that for us in the IPL, I’ll be pretty happy.”
