The 2025 Indian Premier League mega auction had its moments in Jeddah across the two days. Teams went big on several players, especially to address captaincy holes. A few sides also boosted their bowling and batting personnel by signing top players. But when you look back, several sides missed out on players they would have wanted. On some occasions, it came down to not going the distance after sizable bids. Regarding others, players slipped from a franchise due to a lack of solid interest.

On the same note, we decode teams that endured costly misses at the auction

KKR – Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer led the Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL 2024 title. However, due to a difference in retention value, Iyer was available in the market ahead of the auction as KKR had to release the player. When Iyer’s bidding started in the marquee list, KKR showed interest alongside Punjab Kings, and it rapidly moved past INR 7 crore. However, KKR pulled out once Delhi entered the fray, and alongside PBKS, the bid went past INR 20 crore and then INR 25 crore. PBKS finally won the battle at INR 26.75 crore.

The reason why KKR missed the trick was that later on, they went on to shell out INR 23.75 crore on Venkatesh Iyer. Another INR 3-4 crore could have seen the champions get hold of Shreyas in this process, and the captaincy aspect would then have been sorted with ease. Venkatesh drawing INR 23.75 crore was a desperate move by the Knights, who then wanted someone who had been with them for a while so that he could be a captaincy option. Now, with so much riding, Venkatesh will soon be announced skipper. Will he be able to flourish just as Shreyas remains the biggest question.

RCB – Will Jacks

Will Jacks represented Royal Challengers Bengaluru last season, and he made quite an impression, scoring 230 runs from 8 matches. His tally included a century. He also struck at 175-plus. A fierce Englishman, Jacks could have addressed RCB’s batting with some ferocious power-hitting. Jacks, who RCB released, had a base price of INR 2 crore. Mumbai Indians and Punjab started a bidding war as the former finally got hold of the player at INR 5.25 crore. This is definitely a bargain price for a player of his calibre.

For RCB, this was a costly miss as they failed to use the RTM card for Jacks at a friendly price. So much so that MI owner Akash Ambani walked up to the table of the RCB think tank and thanked them for not using the RTM. It shows how much value the player brings. In 191 matches, Jacks has 4847 runs in T20 cricket. His strike rate is worth 28.51.

RCB and KKR – KL Rahul

Both RCB and KKR suffered a costly miss in the form of KL Rahul, who eventually went to Delhi for INR 14 crore. On a day when Shreyas, Venkatesh, and Rishabh Pant broke the 23-crore benchmark, Rahul went for INR 14 crore and felt as if it was a steal buy for DC. Rahul automatically fills in as Pant’s replacement as the captain of this side.

Now, this is seen as a costly miss for both KKR and RCB because the former needed a captain and hence showed interest in Rahul. Similarly, there were talks of Rahul being snapped up by RCB, who, too, felt the player could be their captain following Faf du Plessis’ release. RCB bid and took the same to INR 10.75 crore before deciding to quit. Moments later, KKR, too, stopped at INR 12 crore.

Chennai entered the race, but Delhi got their man. With KKR spending INR 23.75 crore later on Venkatesh and RCB spending INR 8.50 crore on a foreign player in Liam Livingstone, this is the costliest miss for both teams. However, KKR are slightly ahead as RCB have Virat Kohli as captaincy option but they have an untested player in Venkatesh. Rahul for INR 14 crore to 15 crore for KKR would have made them plan better for the rest of the auction.

PBKS – Harshal Patel

This was another steal buy at the auction. Two-time Purple Cap winner Harshal was a surprise release by Punjab after just one season. He was the Purple Cap winner in 2024. RCB let Harshal go in 2023 after the pacer did a tremendous job for them, and now the Kings made a similar mistake. PBKS showed interest in Harshal during the auction on Day 2 and had a bid of INR 6.50 crore alongside Gujarat Titans. However, SRH got Harshal for INR 8 crore. PBKS could have resumed the battle and gone after the player, but they missed the bus.

When you look at Punjab, they have eight foreigners, and the four who will play are Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, and Josh Inglis. They spent INR 11 crore on Stoinis and another 4.50 crore on Maxwell. If Harshal could have been secured, it would have helped their bowling and perhaps also made them plan better in terms of foreign stars in the batting department.

MI – Wanindu Hasaranga

Another steal was bought at the auction. Hasaranga of Sri Lanka went to the Royals for a sum of INR 5.25 crore. MI bid for the player and went toe-to-toe with RR before leaving the race. Hasaranga is one of the best T20 spinners in the world. Hasaranga brings plenty to the RR side with his offerings as a leg-spinner. In 200 T20 matches, he has 287 scalps under his belt at 16.65. His economy rate is just 6.90. Hasaranga, who played for RCB earlier in the IPL, owns 35 scalps from 26 games at 21.37.

Now when you look at MI’s spin department, there is a lack of shine. They have a young prodigy in Afghanistan’s Allah Ghazanfar, who was signed for INR 4.8 crore. Their other two spin options are Mitchell Santner and Karn Sharma. So, leaving the battle at INR 5.25 crore seems a costly miss. Hasaranga looked a better fit in that MI side filled with pacers. He could have handed them that experience in addition to being a valuable wicket-taker. Missing out on him meant they had to up the ante for Ghazanfar and get him at any cost. Hasaranga is a bowling all-rounder and would have aided MI down the order.