IPL 2025: Rating Teams based on their final squads

A total of 228 players were sold in the IPL 2025 auction, which happened on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah. Multiple reputed cricketers, such as David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Steven Smith, Kane Williamson, Shardul Thakur, Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal among many others went unsold, which was surprising, given that all these players have done a good job in the previous editions of the IPL, some even led franchises.

Punjab Kings had the most money to spend in the auction, and they have managed to build a good squad that can very well challenge for the title in the coming years. Royal Challengers Bengaluru made some heads turn by not using RTM cards on Will Jacks and Mohammed Siraj, while Lucknow Super Giants broke the bank to acquire the services of star India keeper-batter Rishabh Pant. 

Mumbai Indians were relatively quiet for most of the auction as they retained five quality cricketers. At the same time, Kolkata Knight Riders’ goal was likely to get back the same set of players that have brought success in the past season and before that. 

Here’s how teams have already lined up and rated them based on their auction performance:

10. Rajasthan Royals - 5.5/10

Rajasthan Royals retained Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer and Sandeep Sharma ahead of the IPL 2025 mega-auction, Half of their job was done as the batting unit looked rock-solid, despite them leaving Jos Buttler. It was expected that the franchise would find a like-to-like replacement for Buttler and just get the England captain back into the squad but that didn’t happen.

Instead, they didn’t spend any bucks on openers. In case Jaiswal or Samson is injured, they don’t have anyone in the squad who can replace them. It is heavily concerning and one area that the team management should be worried about. Nitish Rana can fill the number three role, which was a good buy and Parag, Jurel and Hetmyer can be number four, five and six. Then again, no one in the squad can replace Hetmyer in case of any injury.

The bowling unit looks more-or-less sorted. Fazalhaq Farooqi was an excellent buy for INR 2 crore. Akash Madhwal and Tushar Deshpande are good options in the pace department alongside Sandeep. Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana will lead the spin department. Overall, the entire team looks slightly undercooked with no proper backup of important players. They spent heavily on retentions and missed out on the trick at the auction table.