The glitz and glamour and all those exorbitant price tags of the IPL are back in the news with the auction for the upcoming season of one of the biggest cricketing events in the world on the way. With Rishabh Pant making the teams bid amounts for him that one couldn’t have dreamed of while playing as a kid to Venkatesh Iyer getting the value as one of the underrated stars of Indian cricket, IPL never fails to fill the pockets of the deserving.
However, there’s one particular trend seen this season that makes this edition a little more special. With all the big money going for the Indian stars, rather than the overseas players as seen before, truly makes it the ‘Indian’ Premier League. Well, it was long due and due so rightfully.
I remember a scene in the movie ’83 when the players in the World Cup didn’t even have money for laundry. How the times have changed! Here’s a list of the first ever and the current salaries of some of the Indian players to show that in this age if you follow your dreams and do so with utmost sincerity, you can be a superstar not just with fame, but also with your bank balance.
1. Rishabh Pant
₹ 27 crores!!! To acquire a player of Pant’s caliber, LSG have broken the bank and has made him the costliest player in the history of the IPL. When the Delhi franchise first picked him up in their roster, it was for ₹ 1.90 Cr in 2016.
2. Virat Kohli
Starting his IPL journey with Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2008, Virat Kohli remains the only player to be with only one team throughout all IPL seasons. Currently the leading run-getter in IPL history, he was picked by RCB for an amount of USD 50,000 (₹ 12 lakh) at the time of the first IPL auction. For the 2025 season, he has been retained for a staggering ₹ 21 Cr.
3. Jasprit Bumrah
Probably the hottest property of Indian cricket right now, when Mumbai Indians retained him for the 2025 season, he was given an honorary higher amount of ₹ 18 Cr, compared to the other retained players -Hardik, Rohit and Surya – each earning ₹ 16.3 Cr. However, when he was acquired for his services in 2013, MI paid a mere ₹ 10 lakhs for him and retained him for ₹ 1.2 Cr the very next year. They knew they had a gem with them.
4. Rohit Sharma
In the first-ever IPL auction, the Hit Man was one of the sought-after players and was picked by the now-defunct Deccan Chargers for ₹ 3 Cr in 2008, becoming one of the highest-paid players. After moving to MI in 2011 for a massive $2 million (roughly around Rs. 9 crores at that time), he is set to earn ₹ 16.3 Cr for the upcoming season.
5. Hardik Pandya
Similar to Bumrah, Hardik started with a salary of ₹ 10 lakhs playing for MI, until he was retained for ₹ 11 Cr in 2018. Now he is set to earn a whooping ₹ 16.35 Cr in 2025 as his IPL salary.
6. Venkatesh Iyer
Probably the bid that raised the most eyebrows in this year’s auction was that of Venkatesh Iyer, with KKR splashing ₹ 23.75 Cr in the auction to continue having in their squad. He was bought in 2021 by the same franchise for just ₹ 20 lakhs and was retained the next year for ₹ 8 Cr. Talk about skyrocketing one’s value.
7. Shreyas Iyer
Having captained KKR to the trophy in the previous season, it was a no-brainer that he would be one of the top buys in this auction, and PBKS left no stone unturned to battle DC out of the bidding war and acquire Shreyas for ₹ 26.75 Cr. DC who fought till the last for him was actually the first team Shreyas ever played for in 2015, who had picked him for ₹ 2.6 Cr.
8. Yuzvendra Chahal
PBKS had the purse, and slots to fill. So no wonder they splashed ₹ 18 Cr to have the much-coveted spin magician. Yuzi started his IPL career with RCB in 2014, with a salary of just ₹ 10 lakh a season.
9. KL Rahul
KL’s first IPL experience was with RCB back in 2013 when he was acquired by ₹ 10 lakh, before moving to SRH for ₹ 1 Cr. For the 2025 season, DC will pay him handsomely with ₹ 14 Cr (though a drop from his salary at LSG, which was ₹ 17 Cr a season).
10. Ravichandran Ashwin
It’s a homecoming for R Ashwin as he is back in the ranks of CSK for ₹ 9.75 Cr. In the 2009 auction of IPL, he was picked up by the men in yellow for ₹12 lakhs. As if he never left.
11. Rinku Singh
You all must have heard Rinku Singh making a mere ₹ 55 lakh a season at KKR until the last season. However, not a lot of people might know that his first IPL team was PBKS, who bought him for ₹ 10 lakh back in 2017. For the 2025 season though, Rinku will earn ₹ 13 Cr after being retained by KKR, finally getting awarded for his quality and loyalty.
12. Mohammed Siraj
It was a heartbreak for RCB fans to see them not even bid for their beloved Siraj, who has been bought by GT for ₹ 12.25 Cr. A key part of the Indian squad now, Siraj’s first taste of IPL was in 2017, when SRH paid ₹ 2.6 Cr to have him in the squad.
13. Arshdeep Singh
One of the biggest surprises of the retention period was PBKS not going for Arshdeep, who is among the best pacers in the world. However, they managed to have his service again after paying ₹ 18 Cr for him. He has been with the Punjab team since the beginning when he joined them for ₹ 20 lakhs in 2019.
14. Ishan Kishan
It came as a surprise when MI didn’t go for Ishan, who was earning ₹ 15.25 Cr there until last season. Picked by SRH this season for ₹ 11.25 Cr, Ishan’s first appeared in IPL for the now-defunct Gujarat Lions in 2016, who paid ₹ 35 lakhs for him.
15. Mohammed Shami
We all know how good has been KKR’s scouting over the years. It was in 2011 that they first discovered Shami and bought him for ₹ 10 lakhs. 13 years later, he has now joined SRH, who paid a whooping ₹ 10 Cr for one of India’s 2023 WC heroes.
Well, some call it the Indian Paisa League, but truly it’s a great place for young talents. IPL is a tree representation of, “Excellence ka peecha karo, success jhak maarke tumhare peeche ayegi.“