The IPL changes the fortunes of young cricketers like no other sporting event. Every year, the IPL auction brings a windfall to behold, changing lives and making budding cricketers overnight millionaires. The IPL auction 2025 was no different. The two-day mega auction at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia saw records being shattered, history being rewritten, and franchises spending money in a never-before-seen manner. Indian players were the biggest earners as 10 franchises spent ₹383.4 crore on 120 Indian players at the mega auction. Before this auction, no other Indian player came close to breaking Yuvraj Singh's highest auction price of ₹16 crore paid by Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2016. This time, it was broken five times in the first round of Day 1 of the auctions. Arshdeep Singh became the first Indian to go past Yuvraj's nine-year-long auction record after Punjab Kings roped him for ₹18 crore. Within minutes, it was bettered by Shreyas Iyer ( ₹26.75 crore to PBKS). His record for the highest-ever auction price stood only 21 minutes. Lucknow Super Giants shelled ₹27 crore to buy Rishabh Pant.

But none of them came close to Jitesh Sharma. He got a salary hike of 5500% - which is an IPL record by some distance. The right-handed wicketkeeper-batter was picked up by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for ₹11 crore, which is 55 times more than his previous IPL salary of ₹20 lakh. He was picked up for his base price by PBKS in the IPL 2022 mega auction and then retained him for the same price for the next two seasons.

Jitesh's rise has been exponential. Since making his debut in IPL 2022, Jitesh has never looked back. He had two good seasons for PBKS in 2022 and 2023, scoring at a strike rate of 163 and 156, respectively. He hit 21 sixes in the 2023 season, which earned him a spot in the Indian T20I side as a wicketkeeper and finisher. He was elevated to the vice captain's spot last season after regular captain Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out with an injury.

Why did RCB pay ₹11 crore to Jitesh Sharma?

Jitesh, however, did not have a fruitful season with the bat this year. The Vidarbha cricketer scored only 187 runs at a strike rate of 131 - which is a stark dip from the last two seasons. Then how did he attract such a high bid from RCB? There are two reasons.

Jitesh Sharma is an Indian wicketkeeper-batter with a specific skill set. He is one of those rare cricketers who is very comfortable playing the role of a finisher, which is treated as one of the most difficult things to do in the shortest format of the game. That is precisely why he still remains on the fringes of the Indian T20I side. He was a part of the Indian squad that beat South Africa 3-1 in the T20I series earlier this month.

Secondly, RCB needed a keeper-batter to replace Dinesh Karthik. The veteran cricketer announced his retirement from all forms after holding the finisher and keeper's spot in RCB for the last few seasons. Jitesh is an ideal replacement for Karthik. He can slot in at No.5 or below and play those useful cameos, while the likes of Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar can form the core of the batting unit.

Where do Pant, Iyer and others stand in terms of salary hikes?

Jitesh was not the only one to get a huge raise in this year's IPL auction. Percentage-wise, no one came even close to Jitesh's salary jump but there were cricketers who got more money than Jitesh. All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer was the biggest gainer in terms of the amount. Kolkata Knight Riders paid a whopping ₹23.75 crore to get Iyer back in their squad, which is ₹15.75 crore more than his previous salary of ₹8 crore.

Shreyas Iyer's salary went up by ₹14.50 crore. KKR gave him ₹12.25 crore in the mega auction in 2022, but this time around, PBKS snapped up the IPL-winning captain of the last edition for ₹26.75 crore, which is a more than 200% raise in his salary.

Arshdeep Singh was another big earner. India's T20I specialist was surprisingly released by PBKS ahead of the mega auction but the Punjab-based franchise used the RTM card to buy him back for ₹18 crore, which is ₹14 crore more - 3500% - than his previous price of ₹4 crore.

PBKS were in the nick of things again as they gave a ₹11.5 crore more leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal to buy him at the auction for ₹18 crore. Chahal, who played for RR last season for ₹6.5 crore, became the highest-paid spinner in IPL auction history, bettering Wanindu Hasaranga's ( ₹10.75 crore) mark by some distance.

Pant, the most expensive player in IPL history, received a raise of ₹11 crore from LSG. His previous IPL salary at DC was ₹16 crore.

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