IPL 2025: Potential opening pairs for all 10 teams

Nearly all teams managed to get their hands on a few opening batters for the upcoming seasons in the mega auction. The only exception was Lucknow Super Giants, which failed to acquire a single specialist opener.

SRH’s Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma during IPL 2024. | Photo Credit: VEDHAN M/The Hindu

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction took take place on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, with 182 players being signed up.

The 10 teams spent a total of Rs 639.15 crore on acquiring 182 players in the biggest IPL auction ever. After the two-day exercise, there is a lot more clarity on the playing combinations for all teams.

A key element in a T20 team is always its opening pair. Teams like Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bengaluru had retained at least one of their openers from the 2024 season going into the auction.

Over the two days in Jeddah, nearly all teams managed to get their hands on a few opening batters for the upcoming seasons. The only exception was Lucknow Super Giants, which failed to acquire a single specialist opener.

In the auction, Jos Buttler became the most expensive regular opener, after he was picked for Rs. 15.75 crore by Gujarat Titans.

Here are the potential opening pairs for each team

• Kolkata Knight Riders - Sunil Narine and Quinton de Kock
• Sunrisers Hyderabad - Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma
• Rajasthan Royals - Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson
• Royal Challengers Bengaluru - Virat Kohli and Phil Salt
• Mumbai Indians - Rohit Sharma and Will Jacks
• Chennai Super Kings - Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway
• Punjab Kings - Prabhsimran Singh and Josh Inglis
• Delhi Capitals - KL Rahul and Jake Fraser-McGurk
• Lucknow Super Giants - Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh