The team management of the men’s team has blamed the mega IPL contracts for the players’ failures in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Australia won the series by a margin of 3-1, with the visiting batters unable to contribute. Although Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and KL Rahul played some good innings, they lacked consistency.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were the most disappointing, while Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill gifted their wickets to the hosts. Jasprit Bumrah, who took 32 wickets in five contests, kept the team alive in the series before the Melbourne Test. He was not supported by Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, and Akash Deep.

Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar were ordinary in the spin department.

Meanwhile, Lucknow Super Giants bought Pant for INR 27 crore, making him the most expensive player in the history of IPL. Virat was retained by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for INR 21 crore, while Rohit managed to stay with Mumbai Indians for INR 16.30 crore. Siraj joined Gujarat Titans for INR 12.25 crore. The remaining players were also retained or bought for a hefty amount.

According to a report in Dainik Jagran, one of the members of the team management highlighted the value of the IPL contracts of the Indian players.

“One of the members of the team management accused the Indian players of not taking Test cricket seriously because of their mega IPL contracts. It was given as one of the reasons behind India’s defeat in Australia,” a BCCI source told Dainik Jagran.