RCB awarded 5,500% salary hike to India’s rising star, highest ever in IPL; Pant, Iyer with record auctions, not even close

The IPL changes the fortunes of young cricketers like no other sporting event. Every year, the IPL auction brings a bonanza to behold, changing lives and making budding cricketers millionaires overnight. The IPL 2025 auction was no different. The two-day mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, saw records broken, history rewritten and franchises spending money in ways never seen before. Indian players were the biggest earners as 10 franchises spent ₹383.4 crores from 120 Indian players in the mega auction. Before this auction, no other Indian actor came close to surpassing Yuvraj Singh’s highest auction price of ₹16 crores paid by Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2016. This time it was broken five times in the first round on the first day of the auction. Arshdeep Singh became the first Indian to surpass Yuvraj’s auction record in nine years after Punjab Kings roped him in for ₹18 million. Within minutes, he was bettered by Shreyas Iyer ( ₹26.75 crores in PBKS). Its record for the highest auction price ever lasted just 21 minutes. Lucknow Super Giants bombed ₹27 crores to buy Rishabh pants.

Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav, left, and Jitesh Sharma leave the field.(PTI)

But none of them came close to Jitesh Sharma. He got a 5,500% salary hike, which is by far an IPL record. The right-handed keeper-batsman was picked up by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for ₹11 crore, which is 55 times more than his previous IPL salary of ₹20 million. He was picked up for his base price by PBKS in the IPL 2022 mega auction and then retained him for the same price for the next two seasons.

Jitesh’s rise has been exponential. Since his debut in IPL 2022, Jitesh has never looked back. He had two good seasons for PBKS in 2022 and 2023, scoring at a strike rate of 163 and 156 respectively. He hit 21 sixes in the 2023 season, which earned him a place in the Indian T20I team as a wicketkeeper and finisher. He was elevated to vice-captain last season after regular captain Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out due to injury.

Why did RCB pay ₹11 crores to Jitesh Sharma?

Jitesh, however, has not had a successful season with the bat this year. The Vidarbha cricketer scored just 187 runs at a strike rate of 131 – which is a sharp decline from the last two seasons. So how could he attract such a high offer from RCB? There are two reasons.

Jitesh Sharma is an Indian keeper-batsman with a specific skill set. He is one of those rare cricketers who is very comfortable in the role of a finisher, which is considered one of the most difficult things to do in the shortest format of the game. This is precisely why he still remains on the sidelines of the Indian side in the T20I. He was part of the Indian team that beat South Africa 3-1 in the T20I series earlier this month.

Secondly, RCB needed a keeper-batsman to replace Dinesh Karthik. The veteran cricketer announced his retirement from all forms after serving as a finisher and keeper at RCB for the past few seasons. Jitesh is an ideal replacement for Karthik. He can slot in at No.5 or below and play those useful cameos, while Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar can form the core of the batting unit.

Where are Pant, Iyer and others in terms of salary increases?

Jitesh wasn’t the only one to get a huge raise in this year’s IPL auction. In percentage terms, no one has come close to Jitesh’s salary increase, but some cricketers have earned more money than Jitesh. All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer was the biggest gainer in terms of amount. Kolkata Knight Riders paid a huge sum ₹23.75 crore to bring Iyer back into their team, which is ₹15.75 crore more than his previous salary of ₹8 million.

Shreyas Iyer’s salary increased ₹14.50 million. KKR gave him ₹12.25 crore in the mega auction in 2022, but this time PBKS picked up the IPL-winning captain from the last edition for ₹26.75 crore, which is an increase of over 200% in his salary.

Arshdeep Singh was another big earner. The Indian T20I specialist was surprisingly released by PBKS ahead of the mega-auction, but the Punjab-based franchise used the RTM card to buy him back for ₹18 crores, which is ₹14 crores more – 3,500% – than its previous price of ₹4 million.

PBKS was in trouble again giving a ₹11.5 crores extra Yuzvendra Chahal to buy it at auction for ₹18 million. Chahal, who played for RR last season for ₹6.5 crore, became the highest-paid spinner in the history of IPL auctions, bettering that of Wanindu Hasaranga ( ₹10.75 crore) score from some distance.

Pant, the most expensive player in IPL history, received a hike ₹11 crores of LSG. His previous IPL salary at DC was ₹16 million.