IPL: Top 5 most expensive players in Indian Premier League history

Auctions hand out headlines, but the real story is why franchises broke the bank. There have been several players who made the teams go crazy behind them, which led to chaos in the auctions. Several teams bidding for the same player leads to them being sold at a very high price. Below are the five priciest buys in IPL history, with a tighter look at what each player brings and why teams were willing to pay premium money.

1. Rishabh Pant - ₹27.00 crore (Lucknow Super Giants)

Pant is an instinctive, match-changing batter who doubles as a wicketkeeper and, crucially, a leader. His batting is built around fearlessness as he clears boundaries from awkward positions, accelerates without warning and plays with a tempo that can flip momentum in three overs. 

Beyond raw hitting, Pant offers game sense under pressure and the ability to produce late-game finishes from the middle order. Lucknow’s ₹27 crore bid bought them a player who can score quickly, keep, and captain. This is a combination of roles that explains why he commanded a record fee.

2. Shreyas Iyer - ₹26.75 crore (Punjab Kings)

Shreyas is an anchor who also knows how to accelerate. He scores predominantly through timing and placement rather than pure slog, which makes him reliable at holding an innings together early and pushing tempo later. 

His reading of bowlers, knack for rotating strike and ability to find boundaries against spin give him a premium T20 profile. Add captaincy pedigree (he led KKR to a title and has strong leadership endorsement) and you understand why PBKS shelled out ₹26.75 crore. They bought consistency, finishing ability and someone who can marshal a batting unit.

3. Mitchell Starc - ₹24.75 crore (Kolkata Knight Riders)

Starc is a strike bowler in the old sense with heavy pace, steep bounce and a lethal yorker. In T20s he’s prized for the morning strike and for finishing overs with yorkers that bleed dots and wickets. 

His left-arm angle creates natural rough and scoring problems for right-handers, and his ability to move the ball at pace turns powerplays and death overs into wicket-taking windows. KKR paid big because truly elite left-arm quicks who can regularly take top-order wickets are rare, and Starc’s package is match-deciding when he’s on song.

4. Venkatesh Iyer - ₹23.75 crore (Kolkata Knight Riders)

Venkatesh’s price surprised many, but franchises were buying a versatile, template-fitting batter with upside. He’s a left-hand power-hitter who can also anchor an innings when required. In the IPL, he’s shown the ability to counter-attack early, hit through the arc against pace, and step in as a middle-order finisher, a useful profile in a league that prizes left-right combinations and match-balance. 

KKR’s bid priced in his domestic form, his adaptability across positions (3–5 in the order), and the premium placed on a young Indian who can be a long-term pillar in the middle order. The ₹23.75 crore tag made him one of the auction’s headline buys.

5. Pat Cummins - ₹20.50 crore (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Cummins pairs controlled aggression with bowling precision. He’s not just fast, but he’s relentless. He hunts the stumps, hits lengths that force batters into mistakes and closes out pressure overs reliably. 

He’s also a captain with the temperament to handle high-stakes decisions, which ups his value in auction calculations. Teams pay for bowlers who take responsibility with the new ball, tie up an end in the middle overs and can step up as leaders. Cummins ticks all three boxes, and that’s why his fee crossed the ₹20 crore mark.

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