Most expensive players in IPL each auction

Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction, which will be held on November 24-25 in Jeddah, here most expensive in IPL.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction is set to be one of the most exciting events for cricket fans. With the record for the most expensive player being broken in the IPL 2024 auction after Mitchell Starc was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), we can expect more records to be shattered in the IPL 2025 mega auction. Ahead of the event, let’s take a look at the most expensive players in IPL history, listed by year.

Most expensive players in IPL each year

Player	Edition	Franchise	Price
MS Dhoni	2008	Chennai Super Kings	$1.5 million
Andrew Flintoff & Kevin Pietersen	2009	Chennai Super Kings & Royal Challengers Bangalore	$1.55 million
Shane Bond & Kieron Pollard	2010	Kolkata Knight Riders & Mumbai Indians	$750,000
Gautam Gambhir	2011	Kolkata Knight Riders	$2.4 million
Ravindra Jadeja	2012	Chennai Super Kings	$2 million
Glenn Maxwell	2013	Mumbai Indians	$1 million
Yuvraj Singh	2014	Royal Challengers Bangalore	₹14 crore
Yuvraj Singh	2015	Delhi Daredevils*	₹ 16 crore
Shane Watson	2016	Royal Challengers Bangalore	₹9.5 crore
Ben Stokes	2017	Rising Pune Supergiant	₹14.5 crore
Ben Stokes	2018	Rajasthan Royals	₹12.5 crore
Varun Chakravarthy & Jaydev Unadkat	2019	Kings XI Punjab* & Rajasthan Royals	₹8.4 crore
Pat Cummins	2020	Kolkata Knight Riders	₹15.5 crore
Chris Morris	2021	Rajasthan Royals	₹16.25 crore
Ishan Kishan	2022	Mumbai Indians	₹15.25 crore
Sam Curran	2023	Punjab Kings	₹18.5 crore
Mitchell Starc	2024	Kolkata Knight Riders	24.75 crore

Delhi Daredevils = Delhi Capitals, Kings XI Punjab = Punjab Kings

Some of the most expensive buys in each IPL auction

MS Dhoni

The most successful skipper in IPL history was bought by the Super Kings in 2008 for $1.5 million. That amount seemed huge at the time, but the wicketkeeper has paid the franchise back handsomely. Dhoni led them to 5 titles (joint most) and the most match wins (113) in IPL history.

Ravindra Jadeja

One of the costliest picks ($2 million) by CSK in IPL auction history. Jadeja went on to be part of four title runs for the franchise. His last ball four in the IPL 2023 Final helped CSK claim a record 5th title. The all-rounder is CSK’s 2nd-highest wicket-taker and 8th-highest run scorer, having played 172 matches for the franchise.

Yuvraj Singh

Unlike Maxwell, RCB paying Yuvraj ₹14 crore did not end well for them in 2014. In the 14 matches he played, Yuvraj managed to score 376 runs at an average of 34.18 and a strike rate of 135.25. The all-rounder had poor returns with the ball, picking up just 5 wickets.