Shreyas Iyer vs KL Rahul: Who has been bought at a higher price in IPL 2025 Auction?

Before the IPL 2025 auction began, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul were predicted to end as among the most expensive players. However, in the end, the gap in their valuation was a massive ₹12.75 crore.

While the Punjab Kings (PBKS) signed Shreyas for ₹26.75 crore, the Delhi Capitals (DC) snapped Rahul for ₹14 crore. Shreyas was momentarily the most expensive signing in IPL history before Rishabh Pant's transfer to Rahul's old franchise, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), beat that by ₹25 lakh.

Shreyas' value was almost certainly enhanced by him winning the title as captain with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) last season. KKR bid for him till ₹9.75 crore but pulled out and let PBKS and DC fight it out for record numbers before the now Ricky Ponting-coached franchise came on top.

Rahul's name came later and even more teams were interested in him. KKR and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) chased him till around the ₹12 crore mark and then Chennai Super Kings (CSK) also tried a few bids till ₹13.75 crore before letting DC have his signature for the next three years.

Though there isn't much difference between Shreyas and Rahul's overall numbers in the IPL (in terms of impact and strike-rate more than just runs), the latter's image got impacted by his struggles at the top of the LSG order last season. But DC would know that before 2024, Rahul let LSG to back-to-back playoffs in their first two seasons.

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Will Shreyas and Rahul be IPL captains again?

Both PBKS and DC would probably see Shreyas and Rahul as captains of their respective teams. Though the franchises spent massively on Sunday, they don't have any other experienced options in the line-up.

The teams would hope that a fresh start at a new team would not only help Shreyas and Rahul's captaincy but also their primary skills.

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