IPL 2025: 5 Cricketers who received major pay cuts

Discover the top 5 cricketers who received significant pay cuts in IPL 2025, reasons behind the decisions, and how it impacts their careers.

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Spencer Johnson

It is also a channel through which great names in cricket can secure lucrative deals to propel franchises to success. At the same time, players on the decline see their value plummet.

That was the case for several of the players at the two-day IPL auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which cost Rs 639.15 crore and featured 182 players. Many people who had previously earned a lot of money during the auction either found no takers or saw their compensation decrease.

While the big news was the high record fees for Rishabh Pant (27 crores to Lucknow Super Giants) and Shreyas Iyer (26.75 crores to Punjab Kings), other famous players who were expected to go big at the auction also received significant pay cuts.

Let’s take a look at the five cricketers with massive pay cuts after the IPL 2025 auction.

Here are the 5 cricketers who received a major pay cut in the IPL 2025 auction

5. Glenn Maxwell

Old Salary: INR 11 Cr; New Salary: INR 4.20 Cr

Glenn Maxwell, the Australian all-rounder, was once retained by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru for his price of INR 11 crores. RCB had bought him in the IPL 2022 auction for this money and continued to retain him. However, in IPL 2024, Maxwell managed just 50-odd runs in 9 matches, and RCB chose to let him go.

In the IPL 2025 auction, Maxwell was bought by his former franchise, Punjab Kings (PBKS), but at a paltry price of INR 4.20 Cr when he had set his base price at INR 2 crores. This means that Maxwell took a pay cut of INR 6.80 crores to play in the IPL 2025.

4. Spencer Johnson

Old Salary: INR 10 Cr; New Salary: INR 2.80 Cr

Australian seamer Spencer Johnson was a surprise buy in the IPL 2024 auction for Gujarat Titans. They paid INR 10 Cr for Johnson, a left-arm pacer who has played 10 limited-overs games for Australia, in which he has 14 wickets in T20Is with a best of 5/26. He played 3 games for GT, taking 4 wickets.

In the IPL 2025 auction, Spencer Johnson was again up for grabs, and this time Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) successfully bid for him. However, he was bought for INR 2.80 Crs by KKR to replace the Mitchell Starc-sized hole in their bowling lineup. This meant that Johnson took an INR 7.20 Cr pay cut for IPL 2025.

3. Sameer Rizvi

Old Salary: INR 8.40 Cr; New Salary: INR 95 Lakhs

UP batter Sameer Rizvi was perhaps the biggest domestic name to be bought by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL 2024 auction. Thanks to his performance in U23 games and in the UP T20 league, Sameer Rizvi attracted an INR 8.40 Cr bid from CSK in the 2024 auction. He played 8 matches for CSK and scored an underwhelming 51 runs.

He was released by CSK for the IPL 2025 mega auction and was bought by Delhi Capitals for INR 95 lakhs. This was a huge pay cut for Rizvi, as he lost INR 7.45 Crs to play in the IPL 2025. 

2. Mitchell Starc

Old Salary- INR 24.75 Cr; New Salary- INR 11.75 Cr

Mitchell Starc was only the second player in IPL auction history to get a bid of over INR 20 Cr. He was paid a huge sum of INR 24.75 Cr by KKR in the IPL 2024 mini-auction. He repaid the faith with 17 wickets in 14 matches for KKR in IPL 2024, including 3 wickets in a Player of the Match performance in their IPL final win.

However, with that huge money on him, KKR couldn’t afford to retain him and let him go into the IPL 2025 mega auction. During the auction, KKR did bid for Starc but pulled out at a bid of INR 6.75 Cr. In the end, Delhi Capitals won the bid with INR 11.75 Crs. This still remains a 13 crore pay cut for the Australian speedster.

1. Sam Curran

Old salary: INR 18.50 Cr; New salary: INR 2.40 Cr

Perhaps the biggest pay cut taken after the IPL 2025 mega auction happened to Sam Curran of England. He was bought by Punjab Kings in the IPL 2023 auction for a massive INR 18.50 cr and was retained by the PBKS franchise in IPL 2024 for the same price.

However, the PBKS side went for a complete rehaul in the IPL 2025 mega auction and released Sam Curran to free up INR 18.50 crores in their purse. Sam Curran entered the IPL 2025 mega auction with a base price of INR 2 Cr and is expected to get multiples of that amount.

However, Chennai Super Kings got him for just INR 2.40 crores in the auction, which is very cheap. As a result, Sam Curran suffered a huge loss of INR 16.10 crores in pay-cut in the IPL 2025 auction.

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