The first step towards the next season of the Indian Premier League has been taken and all 10 teams have revealed the names of their retained players. After completion of the first phase, now the most important round i.e. Mega Auction is eagerly awaited. The Board of Control for Cricket in India has now officially announced the date and venue. After speculations going on for several days, it has become clear that the mega auction of IPL 2025 will be held in Jeddah, the big city of Saudi Arabia. This two-day auction will be held on 24 and 25 November.

Decision changed at the last moment

A day before, a report had come that the auction was to be held in Riyadh city of Saudi Arabia, but on Tuesday, November 5, BCCI officially announced that this time the auction of players will be held in Jeddah. According to reports, the Indian Board has taken this decision to change the venue at the last moment. This is only the second time in the history of IPL, when the auction will be held outside India. Before this, last year's auction was held in Dubai.

Auction in Saudi Arabia for the first time

This is the first time that the IPL players auction will be held in any city of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has increased its interest in cricket, especially IPL, in the last few years. BCCI had also discussed this matter with Saudi Arabian officials two seasons ago. Not only this, Saudi Arabia's largest oil company Aramco has also emerged as the biggest sponsor of IPL for the last 3 seasons. In such a situation, this time the organization of auction in Saudi is being seen as an important step in the expansion of league and cricket in this country.

1574 Player Registrations

320 capped players, 1,224 uncapped players, & 30 players from Associate Nations

204 slots up for grabs

24th & 25th November 2024

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Read all the details for the upcoming #TATAIPL Mega Auction

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 5, 2024

BCCI released the details of the auction, in which it has been told that a total of 1574 players have registered their names for the mega auction this time. Monday 4th November was the last date for registration of players and BCCI has received a tremendous response. Altogether 1165 Indian players and 409 foreign players will be part of the auction. Out of these 1574 players, 320 are capped players (have played international cricket), while 1224 are uncapped players. And 30 players are from teams of associate countries.

(News is being updated)