Former Australian captain Aaron Finch took a sly dig at BCCI for organizing the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction during the Perth test. The opening test fixture between India and Australia begins on Friday (November 22), while the auction will take place on November 24-25 in Jeddah.
The last mini-auction took place on December 19 last year in Dubai. Interestingly, it coincided with India’s ODI fixture against South Africa in Gqeberha. The 2025 auction will also mark the second time that the event is being held overseas, in BCCI’s bid to attract fans towards the cash-rich league.
The franchises announced their final retention list on October 31, with defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals utilizing their full quota of six retentions. Meanwhile, Punjab Kings will enter the auction with a maximum purse amount of INR 110.5 crore after retaining only two players.
Appearing on ESPN’s Around the Wicket show on Wednesday, Finch opined that it would have been better if the auction was scheduled between the two test matches. But, he thinks the financial power of BCCI helps them dictate terms on these matters.
“But I would have thought maybe between Test matches would have been ideal, but there’s obviously a reason for it. The BCCI, when they want things to happen, they generally get their way,” said Finch.
Interestingly, former Australian cricketers, Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer have opted to choose IPL auction over their commentary duties for the Perth Test. Ponting is the newly-appointed head coach of Punjab Kings, while Langer will continue his role as a head honcho of Lucknow Super Giants.
Ponting was also critical of the auction taking place during the test match, which will keep players participating in the game under pressure, while they go under the hammer. He was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times:
“It’s the worst possible case scenario for me and ‘JL’. We for the last couple of months felt that it was probably going to be in the gap between the Test matches. It takes all the pressure off the players from both teams, there’s a lot of players in both teams in the auction.”
Moreover, Australia’s assistant coach Daniel Vettori will fly to Jeddah for the IPL auction and will join the team for the remainder of the series. Vettori will continue to serve as the head coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Mohammad Shami blasts Sanjay Manjrekar for predicting pacer’s dip in price tag in IPL 2025 auction
Veteran pacer Mohammad Shami took to Instagram to slam cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar. During an interaction with Star Sports, the 59-year-old predicted that Shami’s price tag can see a dip in IPL 2025 auction due to his injury concerns.
According to Manjrekar, the franchises would limit themselves to shelling out money for Shami, given his history of consistent injuries, that could also sideline him mid-way in the season. The 34-year-old missed the entire 2024 season due to an ankle injury and recently returned to competitive cricket. He will enter the auction as one of the 12 marquee players with a base price of INR 2 crore.
Shami responded to Manjrekar’s comments on his Instagram story and said:
“Save a little wisdom for your own future. If anyone wants to know their future, do contact ‘baba ji'”
Shami’s latest appearance in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 for Bengal saw him finish with a total of seven wickets. His efforts helped the side to win by 11 runs against Madhya Pradesh.
