3 USA Cricketers Shortlisted For IPL 2025 Mega Auction

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction is scheduled to take place on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah

Ali Khan and Nosthush Kenjige of USA make their way off following the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff match between USA and UAE on July 06, 2023 in Harare, Zimbabwe / Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC via Getty Images.

By Daisy Atino

Earlier the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had asked all the IPL franchises to confirm their list of retained players by October 31. A total of 46 players have been retained by the 10 franchises before the mega auction.

A total of 577 players are set to feature in the two-day IPL 2025 mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Out of those, 367 are Indians and 210 are overseas, including three from Associate teams.

Only three United States of America (USA) players have been shortlisted for the IPL 2025 mega auction. They will be eyeing a place in the 70 overseas slots that are available among all 10 franchises.

Among these three, two of them had represented India in U19 cricket, but since they retired from Indian cricket to pursue international cricket in the USA, they will be considered overseas cricketers during the IPL 2025 mega auction.

They include; Unmukt Chand – Rs 30 lakhs, Saurabh Netravalkar – Rs 30 lakhs and Ali Khan – Rs 30 lakhs

Born and raised in Pakistan, Ali Khan is USA’s key fast bowler. The right-handed pacer has picked 82 wickets in 82 T20s with an economy rate of 8.5

In addition to this, Punjab Kings will enter the auction with the biggest purse of INR 110.5 croress. The franchise made only two retentions – Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh – before the auction. On the other hand, having retained six players for the next season, Rajasthan Royals will enter with the smallest purse of INR 41 crores.

Former Indian U19 captain Unmukt Chand will enter the IPL 2025 mega auction with a base price of INR 30 lakhs. Chand is known for his free-flowing batting style in T20s. The right-hander has scored 1795 runs in 87 innings with a strike rate of 116.

Left-arm pacer Saurabh Netravalkar made headlines during the ICC Men’s T20 World 2024 with his excellent bowling performances against India and Pakistan. Saurabh has an impressive bowling record in T20s with 51 wickets in 43 games.

Australian pacer Mitchell Starc, who smashed auction records last time when he was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders for ₹24.75 crore, was also picked up by the Delhi Capitals for ₹11.75 crore this time around.

Perhaps the biggest surprise on day one, however, was the fierce bidding for all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer from KKR and RCB. He was eventually sold for a whopping INR 23.75 ($2.83 million approx.) crore to his former franchise KKR, whose most expensive retained player was Rinku Singh at INR 13 crore, followed by Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy at INR 12 crore each.