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Jos Buttler to pip Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul & Shreyas Iyer as most expensive pick of IPL 2025 auction?

Jos Buttler to pip Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul & Shreyas Iyer as most expensive pick of IPL 2025 auction?

Buttler has scored more runs than Pant and Shreyas despite playing fewer matches and has a way superior strike rate compared to Rahul.

Who’ll be the most expensive player at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction? Most would bet on one of Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, or Shreyas Iyer. It makes sense as well. Three famous Indian batters, all of whom are captaincy-worthy. But, weirdly enough, Jos Buttler might end up as the most pick instead of them all. 

Jos Buttler, best T20 batter in the world?

The England skipper has played more T20 matches than Rahul and Pant have combined in their careers. He’s a franchise legend, scoring heaps of runs all over the world. Buttler‘s the seventh-highest scorer in the shortest format’s history, and given the trajectory, he could end up as the most prolific scorer in T20s. 

He scores runs for fun. Despite playing 145 fewer matches in IPL than Virat Kohli, he’s got just one less hundred than the record holder (7 to 8). If someone makes the greatest T20 team, Buttler would definitely open alongside Chris Gayle. Although he doesn’t use it often, he’s got 360-degree range and has probably got the best scoop in the game. 

If compared with the three Indian superstar batters, Buttler’s the best batter, with only Pant actually coming close to him. He’s got more IPL hundreds than the three combined, despite playing fewer matches than them. He’s got an international captaincy record of 25-18 and has led England to the 2022 T20 World Cup title.

Buttler, Pant, Rahul & Shreyas: IPL stats comparison

MatchesRunsAverageStrike Rate100s50s
Jos Buttler107358238.10147.52719
Rishabh Pant111328435.31148.93118
KL Rahul132468345.46134.60437
Shreyas Iyer116312732.23127.47021

Sanju Samson and Ajinkya Rahane have scored more runs than Buttler for the Rajasthan Royals, but there is no doubt that he’s better than both. The English averages better and strikes faster than them both. He’s just 44 shy of going past Rahane’s run tally of 3098 and scores 10 more runs per game than Samson.

Why Buttler can go big at the IPL 2025 auction

But statistics don’t often decide your price at the IPL auction. Neither Mitchell Starc nor Pat Cummins wouldn’t have gotten over Rs 20 crore last year otherwise. Pant, Rahul, and Shreyas being Indian stars works massively for them. But there is a budget constraint as well.

Buttler’s placed with Shreyas and Pant in the set of marquee players. Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, and Starc are the other players in the first set. What might end up happening is that bidding wars may see Arshdeep, Pant, and Shreyas get sold big, and when the franchises don’t have big names left to big, they hunt for someone like Buttler, who’s the best opener in the game, is an international captain and a wicketkeeper, a proper three-dimensional player.

You might think, What about Rahul? A lot of franchises would be drained of cash by the time the second marquee set arrives. The bidding wars may not top the previous set, and those up front will likely end up the biggest winners in terms of money. 

Most expensive player in each edition of the IPL

PlayerEditionFranchisePrice
MS Dhoni2008Chennai Super Kings$1.5 million
Andrew Flintoff & Kevin Pietersen2009Chennai Super Kings & Royal Challengers Bangalore$1.55 million
Shane Bond & Kieron Pollard2010Kolkata Knight Riders & Mumbai Indians$750,000
Gautam Gambhir2011Kolkata Knight Riders$2.4 million
Ravindra Jadeja2012Chennai Super Kings$2 million
Glenn Maxwell2013Mumbai Indians$1 million
Yuvraj Singh2014Royal Challengers Bangalore₹14 crore
Yuvraj Singh2015Delhi Daredevils*₹ 16 crore
Shane Watson2016Royal Challengers Bangalore₹9.5 crore
Ben Stokes2017Rising Pune Supergiant₹14.5 crore
Ben Stokes2018Rajasthan Royals₹12.5 crore
Varun Chakravarthy & Jaydev Unadkat2019Kings XI Punjab & Rajasthan Royals₹8.4 crore
Pat Cummins2020Kolkata Knight Riders₹15.5 crore
Chris Morris2021Rajasthan Royals₹16.25 crore
Ishan Kishan2022Mumbai Indians₹15.25 crore
Sam Curran2023Punjab Kings₹18.5 crore
Mitchell Starc2024Kolkata Knight Riders24.75 crore
Jos Buttler*2025??
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